Monday, September 10, 2012

A quick look at some of India's renowned collectors

Some of India’s best-known collectors have gathered exquisite works that encompass a wide range of genres, themes as well as styles and that explore a fascinating world of captivating creative expression, binding the past, present and future of Indian art.

Art connoisseur Priyanka Gill was in spotlight when she acquired late Tyeb Mehta’s work from the ‘Mahisasura’ series at one of the Christie's auction sales for over Rs 5 crore. Among her other favorite artists are FN Souza, MF Husain, SH Raza, Anish Kapoor, Subodh Gupta, and Sujata Bajaj. On the other hand, Tasneem Mehta appreciates Nalini Malani’s work. Her collection is geared toward female artists. Revealing her mindset as a collector, she states, “Sometimes I feel the only reason I want to make more money is to be able to buy art.”

On the other hand, the divergent works compiled by Mr. and Mrs. Rajiv Jahangir highlight the fascinating dialogue and mediation between the traditional and modern, the indigenous and foreign, and the sacred and secular as Indian artists sought an independent identity that could define their country’s new nationhood. The collection was showcased at The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Literally titled as ‘Jewel of India’, it comprised a selection of works by some of India’s most celebrated modern painters who emerged in the years following India’s independence from British rule in 1947.

For Delhi based Shalini Gupta, collecting photographs was a natural progression from her love for art she developed while visiting galleries with her husband. She launched Tasveer in 2006. But while the collector only buys what she loves, she often subconsciously thinks about the scope for investment in what she buys.

Talking of photography, the Alkazi Collection of is a significant archive of 19th and early 20th century Colonial photographs. The archive contains over 90,000 photographic prints, documenting history from the perspective of both the rulers and the ruled, painstakingly built over a quarter of a decade by Ebrahim Alkazi.

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