|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
For artists it was a culture shock of the personal kind when the art world was struck at its heart by the all-pervasive recession. Works of well-known artists saw a dramatic downturn. According to estimates, value for contemporary art fell by a mind-boggling 60 to 80 per cent, and 30 to 50 per cent for modern art. "Last year’s financial crunch has brought down prices significantly, and many artists have been selling their works at huge discounts. But the good news is that Indian art is finally recovering from the long drawn financial slowdown," says artist Shubhra Das, who was a part of a group show held in Delhi titled Sacred & Secret on the theme of divinity, faith and spirituality in Indian art. Now there’s even
better news. With prices still well below what were prevailing before
the economic downturn, genuine artlovers are doing bargain hunting. In
fact, many had been bottom-fishing for some months now when the
slowdown was its worst. But now with green shoots of a robust recovery
emerging, collectors are rushing in before the price tags go
northwards again.
Well-known artist Jatin Das agrees that the prices had gone through the roof and that brought in a lot of speculators. Thus, the correction was both desirable and timely. However, he says none of the well-known names sold their works on a discount. "Most leading artists stayed away from art auctions because good art speaks for itself. We decided there was no need for any desperate sale." Satish Gupta, another big name in art circles, agrees. "It’s true that the prices of Indian art had started climbing vertically before the recession. But good art always finds its own level and its own buyers. It is not the artist but art lovers who determine the prices. For me, art is timeless and boundless and it bounces back from difficult times. That’s because it is not a commodity like gold or silver. It has more to do with the finer senses and the human soul." During the economic boom when stock markets were surging, many people began buying works of well-known artists as an investment. Soon genuine investors were being replaced by speculators, who made quick gains by trading in art. The manipulated profits saw the price of art jack-knifing through the sky. An example of the prices prevailing pre-recession would highlight the point. The global demand for Indian art at Christie’s shot up from $ 6,50,000 in 2000 to more than $ 45 million by 2008 at the back of a worldwide stock market boom. In the time when stock markets were booming, a well-known Mumbai auction house sold 160 works of Indian artists for a whopping $ 15.3 million (around Rs 70 crore). The highest bid was for the Paris-based artist S. H. Raza, whose work titled Climat went for a mind-boggling $ 1.4 million (approximately Rs 6.5 crore). A painting by Tyeb Mehta fetched $ 1.10 million (around Rs 6 crore); another by F.N.Souza had a secret buyer dishing out $ 4,92,317 (Rs 2.25 crore approx.) though Hussain fetched a ‘poor’ $80,467 (around Rs 36 lakh)! Compare all this to an auction by Saffronart during the recent recession. It could barely sell art worth just $ 1.5 million! Though senior artists have always been held in high esteem, in those heady days, the entry of speculators saw them being marketed as brands. The concept of branding was also advanced by the surge of interest in Indian art by global wealth managers and the subsequent entry of international art auction houses. With the amazing spike in demand artists, too, went on an overdrive mass-producing works to make a quick buck. The result was a plethora of galleries in all big Indian cities. However, with the onset of the recession, prices of art works came hurtling down, and a number of galleries across India closed down, as they were unable to sell any works. One of the biggest names, Bodhi Art, downed shutters in Delhi, Berlin, London and New York. Nothing seemed to be going right. Even artists were left with huge unsold stock. "I have lost much more that what I made in those boom times," says artist Harbans Sehgal and adds, "I have a huge stock of unsold canvases that may never be sold." A positive outcome of the crisis is that seeing the plight of artists like Sehgal, big names have now started concentrating on quality rather than quantity. Now with signs of economic recovery, the colour seems to be coming back into Indian art. Says India’s leading artist Aparna Caur, "Recession may have hit Indian art but the fact is that good artists and quality art have always been at a premium. They never go out of fashion." — NF
|
||||
|
|
||||
