(published on 2008 Sunday Express)
C Shivakumar
It has been a long journey for 35-year-old artist Narayanan. In the past 15 years since he took up the profession, the skyline of Chennai has changed as has art and the artists. “When I took up art, it was more as an inspiration. Sometimes, the painting fetched you a few thousands and sometimes nothing. But things have changed now. The Internet has opened up a whole new world of opportunities,” he says.
These changes have inspired Narayanan and hordes of other emerging artists in India to open their own studios and cater to their online clientele. “Art is scaling new heights all across the globe. Good artwork all over the world has a huge and excellent market and the market for Indian art is growing like never before. It is gaining recognition and valuations are rising globally. The demand for Indian art is rising due to the fact that it is extremely undervalued and has huge growth potential,” says Ajay Seth, chief mentor of Copal Art, a Delhi-based investment firm.
According to him, the Indian art segment is in a nascent stage but already worth Rs 3,000 crore and will grow further. “For any market to grow, there have to be new buyers. Some interest has been created. We have a unique business model and now have more than 2,000 collectors,” says Seth, whose firm has established two art funds and is planning a third one by mid-June. “Our client-base spans investors, collectors, corporates and first-time art collectors,” he says.
But what brand of art attracts the clientele? Sotheby’s recently sold 17 pieces of contemporary art for more than $125 million while online auctions, pioneered by Saffronart, have transformed the landscape of Modern and Contemporary Indian art, making it accessible to participants who are constrained by geographical and physical limitations and opening it to a wide spectrum of international art lovers. Saffronart took in $7.2 million — its highest total yet — for an online auction held last month with over 550 registered bidders from all over the world competing against each other for the works of some of India’s most prominent contemporary artists.
Though there is a strong Indian base of collectors for this genre, at this sale 25 per cent of the bidders were non-Indian, highlighting the high level of international interest in Contemporary Indian art, Dinesh Vazirani, Co-founder and Director of Saffronart, says.
So are collectors pitching in for contemporary art? “No,” says Seth. “Art lovers don’t restrict themselves to only one form of art. There is a market for all art forms. Be it traditional forms like old mythological paintings, old Tanjore school of art, Cholamandalam or old Bengal school of art.”
“We have done research and found out that heritage art does attract collectors,” he said. But are artists happy with the changing scenario? Narayanan thinks so but adds, “Only the creative ones will survive. Art has to be packaged and marketed, along with the artist because of the changing buyers’ profile.”
Sarala Banerjee, of Art World Gallery, Chennai, agrees. “The Internet is a good medium to promote art. But the ones selling art through this medium should have familiarity with the work of the artists. Art is very niche; you have to know about it before you try to sell it online. One should also know what is good and bad art,” she adds.
But Narayanan has some reservations about the sale of art online. “When you reduce a large scale canvas into a thumbnail picture, the finer details of the work get lost,” he says. But noted painter Asma Menon thinks otherwise. “The online medium opens up a window of opportunities and also provides art lovers, who have a busy schedule, a chance to view the art work.”
While the art segment is growing, the world is hit by liquidity crisis, which according to Seth hasn’t affected the art market. “The equity is appreciable and valuations are going up,” he explains, adding that there has been a 250 per cent rise in art investments over the last 18 months. Investors from South India especially from Bangalore have invested in the art fund, he explains
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