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The lack of a droit de suite excludes artists from future income reflecting increases in value, writes
Uma Nair
Shouldn’t artists be paid something every time their work is sold?" asks Paris-based abstract artist S.H. Raza, echoing many other Indian painters. "There has to be an institutionalised demand for something like that," said Raza whose work "Tapovan" went for a whopping $14,72,000 at the Sotheby’s Indian art auction in New York on March 28. Raza felt such matters should be a kind of "clarion call" for the arts industry to do something, as it was clear most artists are not reaping the rewards of record prices for contemporary art. "The profits from auctions go to the dealers and the buyers and the seller. They don’t go to the artists because it’s all happening in the secondary market," said Raza whose "Tapovan" sale set a world record.
Tyeb Mehta holds similar views. "When will something be done for artists?" he asked. For instance, Tracey Moffat’s photographs went down to the hammer for $230,000, at Christie’s in 2002 but her series in Australia actually sold for a humble $1,000. Moffat would have received around 60 per cent of the 1989 price under the normal commission arrangement between gallery owners and artists. For the Christie’s sale she would not have seen a single dollar. If, however, she were French and not Australian she would have automatically got 5 per cent of the $230,000 under legislation called the droit de suite (right to follow), a resale royalty introduced in the 1920s. It was in 2001 that the droit de suite was adopted as European Union policy to be put in place across the continent within five years. Droit de suite is the term used to cover the right of an artist, sculptor, engraver or photographer to receive a certain percentage of the resale price when his work of art is sold, subsequent to its first sale. The lack of a droit de suite excludes artists from future income reflecting increases in value, which arise due to the work being traded in the art market after the initial disposal. The majority of European art market transactions take place in London, which accounts for more than 52 per cent of the annual $4.925 billion European art trade. Over 90 per cent of the European auction market is handled by Sotheby’s and Christie’s in the British metropolis as well as New York. According to news sources, Britain must incorporate it in the few years after it becomes a law. America has no such law. "If they can do it in Europe surely they can do it in India and America and the rest of the world," said Mehta. "It would be nice if the artist also saw a bit of that money because it would help that artist keep practising. It would actually relieve pressure on government and other private funding all the time too." However, dealers’ associations in Europe claim that droit de suite is burdensome and impractical and will meet additional administrative obligations on low-value sales. "They enrich the agencies which collect royalties for artists," said a dealer in Paris. "In France, for example, collecting agencies charge a commission of 20 per cent of resale rights. Then there is the difficulty of tracking down beneficiaries after the artist’s death; often there are many beneficiaries and each beneficiary’s share has to be calculated." — IANS |
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