Rise and rise of Indian art
With established as well as emerging artists carving out a niche in the art world at the global level, Indian art is making its presence felt on a larger canvas with bold and sure strokes
Nutan Sehgal

In March 2013, in the sale of modern and contemporary Indian art at the Sotheby’s, New York  F.N.Souza’s The Crucifixion collected $5,57,000 (over RS 3.06 crore)

Indian art, long confined to niche circles, has over the last few years become a staple of collectors around the world. While names like M.F. Husain, J. Swaminathan, FN Souza, SH Raza, Manjit Bawa and Satish Gujaral still rule the art world, and names like Vivan Sundaram, Ganesh Pyne, Anjolie Ela Menon, Arpita Singh, Arpana Caur, Sanjay Bhattacharya and Jitesh Kallat are not too far behind.

One factor contributing to the increased interest is the changing profile of the buyer. Earlier, mainly foreigners and diplomats bought art, but now Indian corporate buyers are acquiring paintings to add to the decor of their boardrooms. Interestingly, a number of HNIs (High Networth Individuals) too are buying art as an investment.

A few years ago, a degree from an art school was seen as a fulfilment of an interest in art but not as a career option. Most art graduates saw reason in following steadier professions and pursued art as a hobby.

There is a scramble for entry into art schools many of which conduct rigorous aptitude tests. Evidently, modern Indian art has entered a new phase. There is a certain glamour that automatically attaches to an artist. More than that is the money that is floating freely on the art acquisition scene.

Art is where mart is

There is a sudden interest in top-of-the-line and emerging artists. Every month auction houses in India and abroad sell works by Indian artists to enthusiastic global buyers.

Apart from Sotheby’s and Christie’s, some of the top Indian art auctioneers include Chennai-based Apaarao Galleries and Mumbai-based Osian Art Gallery and Saffron Art Gallery.

In the March 2013 auction, Saffronart sold M.F. Husain’s Mosaic Female for Rs 1.06 crore and another untitled work for Rs 61.56 lakh. In the same auction, S.H. Raza’s Last Howl From the Cross went for over Rs 1.43 crore, a Subodh Gupta untitled went for over Rs 1.06 crore and a Jehangir Sabwala untitled also went for over Rs 1.06 crore.

Masterpieces rule

Atul Dodiya’s art work at India Art Fair -2013

The Osian Art Gallery too held a vey successful auction titled Forty Masterpieces on April 13, 2013 that included a rich collection of historical important artists like Rabindranath Tagore, Ustad Allah Buksh, J. Swaminathan and others.

In March 2013, the sale of modern and contemporary Indian art at the Sotheby’s, New York clocked a collective sales of $6.6 million (around Rs 36.30 crore). The evening belonged to the late abstract Indian artist Vasudeo S. Gaitonde’s 1962 untitled work that fetched a record $9,65,000 (almost Rs 5.31 crore). S.H. Raza’s 1983 Rajasthan I was snapped up for $8,09,000 (almost Rs 4.45 crore), F.N.Souza’s The Crucifixion collected $5,57,000 (over Rs 3.06 crore) and Manjit Bawa’s The Black Devi $3,89,000 (around Rs 2.14 crore).

Christie’s was the auction house of the India Art Fair that was held between January 31 and February 3, 2013 at Delhi which showcased a range of modern and contemporary Indian art by over 1,000 artists, presented by galleries from India and across the globe. The fair, in a way, showcased the strides that Indian art has made in the last two decades.

Artists who have a global presence are Subodh Gupta, Owais Husain, Jitesh Kallat. etc. In recent years, the growing affluence of Indians and the pivotal role of India globally have instilled a new confidence and appreciation of our culture, as an investment value as well as cultural presence.

Classical arts and miniatures have been collected before in the West but now the trend has shifted to works of Indian artists, especially contemporary painters who fetch a whopping price in the international art mart.

Christie’s launched modern and contemporary Indian art sales in London in 1995 and later in New York in 2000, enabling this category to grow worldwide. It offers modern and contemporary Indian art in New York, London and Hong Kong sales, as well as classical South Asian art in New York. Works by Indian modernists such as MF Husain, Tyeb Mehta, S H Raza, Ram Kumar, Vasudeo S Gaitonde and Francis Newton Souza tend to garner the highest prices.

Christie’s has also seen successful sales of works by younger artists as well, such as Subodh Gupta, Jitish Kallat, Atul and Anju Dodiya, TV Santosh and Ravinder Reddy, to name just a few. 

Priceless paintings

Picasso’s Le Reve fetched $155 million

When the Master of Ceremonies at the Sotheby’s brought down the hammer, the art world drew a sharp breath. Norwegian artist Edvard Munch’s iconic 1895 masterpiece The Scream had been auctioned for a mind-boggling $11,99,22,500 (around Rs 660 crore).

No one has been able to dethrone French post-impressionist artist Paul Cézanne whose masterpiece The Card Players tops the list at an ‘eye-watering’ $267 million (Rs 1,470 crore) and is currently owned by the royal family of Qatar.

Usually, when one of the paintings of old masters is auctioned, art lovers gape at its whopping price tag rather than the master's deft strokes. It is thus not surprising to see write ups equating the value of a Vincent Van Gogh to the budget of a small country or likening a painting by Pablo Picasso to owning a fleet of aircraft.

Sensuous portrait

However, the same cannot be said of Pablo Picasso’s Le Rêve. The brilliant work which is a sensuous portrait of the artist’s mistress Marie-Thérèse Walter which he painted in a single afternoon fetched a mind-scrambling $155 million (around Rs 852 crore). The buyer, Steve Cohen, an American hedge fund billionaire, had been chasing it for almost six years and finally managed to outbid art collectors on March 26, 2013.

Le Rêve was earlier owned by Austrian-born investment fund manager Wolfgang Flöttl who also owns Dutch Master Vincent Van Gogh’s Portrait of Dr. Gachet which he bought for $82.5 million (around Rs. 454 crores). Gogh did the portrait of his friend Dr. Paul Gachet who had given him shelter in his last difficult days. It was sold in 1897 by Dr. Gachet’s sister-in-law for 300 francs. It passed through several hands till in 1937, it was confiscated by Hitler’s Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda and is now in possession of Flöttl.

New benchmarks

Australian investor Wolfgang Flöttl bought Dutch Master Vincent Van Gogh's Portrait of Dr Gachetfor for $82.5 million (around ~454 crore)

Whenever an auction is announced, there is such frenzy amidst buyers that at times the biddings threaten to go out of hand showcasing the sudden worldwide interest in art. Ironically, even as the prices of art have declined due to the worldwide downtrend, the last few years have seen the value of masterpiece art spiralling to uncharted territory making new benchmarks with every sale.

Top art collectors

The three art collectors, Steve Cohen, Wolfgang Flöttl and Ronald Lauder are considered among the most influential art buyers in the world today. In fact Cohen also owns Dutch-American abstract expressionist Willem de Kooning’s 1953 oil-on-canvas titled Women III for $137.50 million (around Rs. 756.25 crore). Said to be one of the most important post-war paintings that is not in a museum, Women III is considered to be the ultimate work of abstract art.

The smart car
Equipped with GPS and real-time traffic navigation systems, trouble-shooting devices, bluetooth speaker phones, cameras with wide-angle views of the road, etc. the intelligent car has revolutionised driving
Divisha Saran

So you thought people behind the James Bond movies went overboard when they conceptualised vehicles loaded with gizmos — a device that would read an important e-mail message aloud to its occupant or slam emergency brakes on its own or offer the occupant heated seats in winters, or even a glass of chilled champagne? Perhaps, not.

Gone are the days when cars just came with factory-fitted accessories like floor mats and audio systems. Today luxury car makers are offering a lot more like GPS systems, bluetooth speaker phones and window tints to block UV rays.

Experts say that in the last one decade, automobile leaders are giving accessories which are as sparkling as the car itself. Some of today’s top-end automobiles are packed with more electronic accessories than the average helicopter. Intelligent car is not only revolutionising driving but also its comforting accessories are a marvel of modern technology.

Technology driven

Most leading auto manufacturers are coming out with technological-driven accessories like trouble-shooting devices that work wonders in an emergency. If the car stalls in the middle of nowhere, the device will check the engine and then take you to a website, which offers a way to fix it up.

Other state-of-the-art accessories include real-time traffic navigation devices, cameras to provide 360-degrees wide angle views of the road and apparatus that will allow owners to monitor their vehicle from anywhere in the world via a smartphone.

On a lighter note, there are fancy accessories like carlashes for headlights, wine racks, driver alert wristbands, coffee/tea makers, pop-up television screens, heart rate monitors and touch-button technology to change your glass colour from all-clear to any shade and anything else that catches your fancy.

When Hyundai’s luxury sedan Equus was launched in 2011, it offered a free iPad that included how-to videos, interactive features, location of service facilities in the city and a lot more.

Foldable scooter

When Honda City was launched in Japan, it offered a Motocompo as an accessory with the purchase of the car. The Motocompo was a foldable scooter that could be fitted in the trunk of the car as a solution to parking problems. Drivers who found parking far from their house or office could pull out the scooter and ride the rest of the way.

Though Honda has discontinued the Motocompo, BMW has revived the concept with its iPedelec (Pedal Electric Cycle), an electric bicycle designed to fit into the trunk of the car, which can be used if one is parked a fair distance from the destination.

There are accessories and more accessories in the market. Some that make eminent sense and have high utility, others that are simply there to do specific jobs and still others that are laughable to the extent of being weird and even bizarre.

Corny stickers

For example, if you are a fan of Cuban cigars and you like your cigars immaculately aged, then you need a car humidor that retails for $4,000 (~2.20 lakh) which sits pretty on the car along with those cigars. Not just that, if one is a foodie, there is even a French fry holder, so that you can merrily munch your favourite junk food, even while driving the car. Then, there are corny stickers to make the reader laugh…stickers that look like bullets holes giving the impression that the car has been shot at.

There are many who take great joy at making themselves look different and they do this at times by fixing their wheels with funky programmable LED lights that display logos, texts and even photos.

Weird devices

Though some accessories have high utility and others are downright funny, there are few that are downright weird, and even hazardous.

The flame-thrower fitted to the exhaust of the car is one of them. At the push of a button, the exhaust throws a flame to a distance of 20 feet. However, this bizarre accessory has been banned in many countries because of its hazardous intent.

Then there is steer safe car kit that lets you clip your smartphone on the steering wheel for you to have a hands-free conversation or read an occasional message. Could anything be dumber than that? Yes, there are other ill-conceived accessories like the steering wheel laptop table so that you can browse your e-mail while driving.

Though there is no dearth of no-brainer gizmos, thankfully there are an equal number of sensible accessories that make driving safe, comfortable and fun.

Multi-purpose rear view mirror

The OnStar FMV elegant rear-view mirror connects motorists with emergency services and an automatic crash response at the press of a button. The service also provides roadside assistance and can even help find a stolen vehicle. It comes with bluetooth for hands-free calling.

                                                     Price: $100 Rs 5,500

Trailblazer universal car charger

The TrailBlazer Advance Pro universal carcharger is three devices rolled into one. It is a phone holder, a car charger and a USB cigarette lighter. The holder is sturdy and simple to quickly fit and release the phone. Its adjustable arms can hold the iPhone in any way you want.

                                            


                                                       Price: $19 Rs 1,045

Car tent

Are you in the mood of a spontaneous adventure to the great outdoors? If yes, then you need a Sportz Tent by Canada-based Napier Enterprises. This special tent fits into most SUVs and hatchbacks. It is water-resistant and keeps you bug free and can be removed to be used as a ground tent.

Price: $330 Rs 18,150

JVC navigation head

The JVC Navigation Head has a 7-inch monitor that displays 3D maps in vivid detail. It also has regular traffic updates and in-dash apps. The navigation head is compatible with every music configuration and digital device and it also facilitates bluetooth hands-free calling.



                       Price: $850 Rs 46,750

Dog car booster seat

We all look for comfort while travelling in a car. But what about our four-legged friend? A website for canines www.doggoneglamorous.com is offering a dog car booster seat that ties around the front headrest to give your pet a luxurious ride and also a good view of the road.

Price: $60 Rs 3,300

Thermador car cooler

Though most cars are air-conditioned these days, the window-mounted Thermador car cooler is still a luxury in many old and vintage cars and works best in dry heat conditions. Hot air from the surrounds evaporates water inside the cooler, which in turn throws chilled air inside the car.

                                
                                         Price: $300 Rs 16,500

Kitchen in the car

Call it a kitchen car or kitchen in the car, the Scion Kogi xD is a mobile kitchen from the California-based MV Designs that lets you have food cooked by your own hands wherever you go. The kitchen includes a mini-fridge, a sink, a barbecue and space to store utensils and foodstuff.

Price: $15,345 Rs 8,43,975

Portable petrol pump

Are you forgetful about the amount of petrol in your car tank? All you have to do is to carry a portable gas station from online retail giant http://www.hammacher.com. The 50-litre petrol pump has a siphon that instantly stops and starts the flow of petrol filling the tank in five minutes.

                                                             Price: $170 Rs 9,350

Speed camera detector

If you’re trying to avoid a speeding challan, then the Escort Passport 9500ix Radar Detector will be of great use to you. It can detect any speed camera at any location and alert you. All you then have to do is to slow down before you are detected. But remember, it is safest to drive slow.

Price: $500 Rs 27,500

Child car seat cum carry cot

Holding your baby in your arms in a moving car can be risky in case of a mishap or sudden braking. What you need is a Mee Mee baby car seat-cum-carry cot that secures the baby, has soft side impact protection, a safety harness and chest pad. It can be removed and used as a carry cot.

                                                  Price: Rs 5,000

Automobile collectibles

The demand for accessories and collectibles is so great that a majority of car makers have their own collections. Here’s looking at the top-end collectibles by the world’s leading car makers.

Bentley: One of the most luxurious British cars has a line of accessories ranging from mugs, apparel, leather bags, teddy bears, and more. The price range is from £5 (Rs 275) for a Bentley lapel pin, to £950 (Rs 80,000) for a Breitling desk clock.

Mercedes Benz: The German car giant has a mindboggling range of accessories that include watches, wallets, sunglasses, cufflinks, mugs, brooches, key rings, model cars, bags, leather luggage and more ranging between £2 and £450 Rs 175 and Rs 38,000)

Audi: The Bavarian auto leader too has a line of collectibles and accessories that include watches, mugs, key chains, bags and baggage, to-scale car models, golf and tennis paraphernalia, stationery and a lot more ranging between $2 and $350 (Rs 110 and Rs 19,250)

BMW: The Bavarian Motor Works, popularly known as BMW, has one of the largest list of collectibles, which include apparel, caps, footwear, helmets, keychains. It has most of the imaginable collectibles ranging from $3 to $700 (Rs 165 to Rs 38,500).

PACESETTERs Ankur & Agu
Dance of discovery
Ankur and Agu have been collaborating on a Japanese dance form called sub-body Butoh
Swati Rai

Delhi-based Ankur Pandey 27, and Agu Tara, 26, the former a musician and the latter a danseuse, have been collaborating on a Japanese dance form, the sub-body Butoh, since last year. Ankur is the founding member of the Tatva Kundalini band and the co-founder of an electronic music label called the Chill Om Records.

Akshi Khandelwal a.k.a Agu Tara, a trained Bharatnatyam danseuse, is currently a sub-body Butoh midwife and performer. A ‘midwife is a facilitator of the birth of another’s creativity. She has been studying and practising the Butoh under Rhizome Lee, a Japanese sub-body Butoh practitioner at the sub-body Butoh Foundation, Dharamsala, in Himachal Pradesh. Agu has studied movement arts and mixed media from Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts, Bangalore. “Sub-body” is the subconscious body. The dancer explores movement and expression from the subconscious realm. Agu conducts workshops in Delhi at the Zorba the Buddha and also at the Lodhi gardens. Ankur adds, “Unlike in other dance forms, where you learn the dance from 'outside', i.e. body forms, in this, you dive into your subconscious and let the dance emerge.” Together, Agu and Ankur have given countrywide performances, including at the recent shows at the Nat Geo and the Wild Fest in Delhi. Agu says, “Audience resonance varies from place to place and performance to performance. As a sub-body Butoh performer and midwife, it is my responsibility to midwife the audience. Sometimes, there has been absolute stillness, at other times fascination, laughter or even disgust and fear!”

Ankur has recorded monks, banjaras, fakirs and tribes and turned them into albums like Cafe Sunset, Road to Tibet and Nirvaan under the name of Electronic Fakir. His album, Road to Tibet was featured in an international compilation, Indian Electronica. He says, “Having been a part of the rise of electronic/Indie music in India, since 2006 and now seeing Butoh enter the mainstream, I find the audience has become more appreciative of newer art forms.” This sentiment is echoed by

Agu, who says, “India has diverse environments, people, events and influences. It provides a multidimensional space for artistes to grow.” She aims at creating a life-resonance creation therapy space/studio for sub-body Butoh in Delhi. Ankur, thrilled at the recent selection of an advertisement as the top five automobile ads in the world by adforum.com, for which he composed the music, says, “I see myself making music, doing Butoh and travelling in the future, combining these three. I wish to explore life, learn new things and keep living with an open heart.” This is perhaps a sign of India opening up to unconventional creative expressions.

What is Butoh?

Butoh dance began in Japan in 1959 through the works of Tatsumi Hijikata and Kazuo Ohno. It is the dance of life, a dance art that goes beyond self-expression and explores the resonant ability of life. ‘Subbody’ means the sub-conscious body. In the sub-conscious world, away from ego and thinking, the dancers dance, feelings, life memories and experiences folded in the body and explore his or her interactions with external elements such as gravity and also with one’s dreams and illusions.

bling it on

ULTIMATE LUXURY ON WHEELS

It strikes sublime harmony between luxury and an object d'art. The Veneno — named after a legendary Spanish fighting bull — is Lamborghini’s way of celebrating its 50th birthday. The awe-inspiring 750hp road hog with a 6.5 litre V12 engine that can zoom it up to a blinding speed of 355 kmph and its all-wheel drive system with seven-speed transmission is enough to propel it to 100kmph in 2.8 seconds. And here’s the surprise. The car in a limited edition of three sold out at the Geneva Motor Show much before the production has started.

Price: $3.9 milllion (Rs 21.45 crore)

Price: $45 (Rs 2,475)

CROCODILE IN YOUR WARDROBE

We’ve all heard of crocodile-skin shoes, wallets, belts and handbags. Now, instead of flaunting an accessory you can wear one as well. In a first, French luxury brand Hermes has unveiled a crocodile skin T-shirt for the uber rich. Made entirely of the skin of the rare black crocodile found in the Nile, it is the showpiece of Hermes’ Spring 2013 collection. Those who think the T-shirt costs a fortune forget that the highest price is paid by the black crocodile which is on the verge of extinction.

Price: $91,500 (Rs 50.325 lakh)

SCULPTING HISTORY

It was a defining moment of history. Napoleon had set out to conquer India but since Egypt fell in the way, he decided to annex it as well. Though the French dreams of an Indian Empire began and ended in Pondicherry, its rule lasted for around three years in Egypt starting in 1798. Back in 1897, French artist Jean-Leon Gerome made an exquisite gold, ivory and wood sculpture of Napoleon entering Cairo on horseback which is now up for sale at the New Orleans auction house Rau Antiques. The striking 16.5 inches historical sculpture is set to make history all over again—by being sold to the highest bidder.

                         Price: $1,98,000 (Rs 1.09 crore)

A RARE TREASURE IN UDAIPUR

The Emperor of Cognacs recently made came to the land of maharajas. Guests from 17 countries gathered in Udaipur to celebrate the global launch of Louis XIII Rare Cask 42.6 — only the second such cask to join the ‘Rare’ collection. A ‘Rare Cask’ is a single, extremely rare barrel discovered among the hundreds of century-old tierçons that go to make Louis XIII cognac. A Rare Cask is distinguished by a small but significant increase in alcohol, beyond the expected 40 percent. This cask takes its name from its strength of 42.6 degrees of alcohol which goes to make it even more pleasurable.

                                       Price: 1,8 000 € (Rs 12.5 lakh)

A PURSE FULL OF DIAMONDS

His Hollywood clientele includes Kate Winslet, Jenifer Lopez and Britney Spears. Lebanese designer Pascal Mouwad can count scores of other celebrities as fans of his exclusive jewellery collections, haute joaillerie, objects of art, and luxury watches. But even the richest ladies in the world may not be able to afford this 1001 Nights Diamond Purse. It is virtually priceless, not just because it is encrusted with over 4,500 diamonds adding up to around 382 carats but that it took 10 artisans a collective 1,100 hours to create it. Little wonder then that it has made it into the Guinness Book of World Records as the most expensive purse ever.

                                       Price: $3.8 million (Rs 20.90 crore)

WHAT A RECORD!

He came from Memphis with his flapping hair, three-inch sideburns and swinging hips and changed rock music forever. But the beginnings were humble for Elvis Presley, the music messiah who sent millions round the globe into squeals of ecstasy. Way back in 1954 when the King of Rock recorded his first song It’s All Right (Mama) not many knew him. Now the original vinyl record is readied to be auctioned to the highest bidder. The record was first auctioned in 1998 for $27,000. The new auction to be held in April is likely to see feverish bidding before it goes to a lucky collector.

Auction price: Expected to fetch a record $90,000 (Rs 49.50 lakh)

LOO & BEHOLD

American actress Traci Bingham once said that real luxury begins in the bathroom. If someone has a stylish bathroom, everything else will be stylish. For those who want a trendy washroom that redefines luxury, go for the new faucets by French luxury plumbing brand THG that has launched three sets in collaboration with Lalique — the Ange cylindrical Lalique crystal faucet fitted with cherubs; the Papillion which features two crystal butterflies on either side ready to take flight and the Naiade that has gold-finished handles. Go for the style that suits your personality.

Price range: From $4,645 to $18,450 (From Rs 25.575 lakh to Rs 10.175 lakh)

TEE TIME FOR PUTTERS

If you are a golfer you must tee off in style with a top-of-the-line driver. But if you want to be on top of the golfing list then you should aspire to have the R1 driver from Taylormade. Apart from being one of the company’s most technologically advanced drivers, the R1 is able to provide 12 different loft options and seven face angle settings – this comes as great help to golfers by making it easier for them to find the optimal launch angle. If you love the game, go for this driver. The price may be a bit daunting but then, it’s all a part of the golfing game.

                                     Price: $400 (Rs 22,000)

DIAL V FOR VERTU

The world’s leading jewellers seem to have an enduring fascination for high-end smart phones. One of the top phones of the world, the Vertu Signature has been given a stunning makeover by celebrated French jeweller Boucheron in the form of a precious metals-studded cobra. In a limited edition of eight pieces, the cobra is made of 18 carat gold and embellished with one pear-cut diamond, one round white diamond, two emerald eyes and 439 rubies making it one of the most exclusive accessories that is guaranteed to put you in a league of your own.

                                       Price: $3,10,000 (Rs 1,70,50,000)