 | Our earlier art cover | The painting you see on the cover by Amrita Sher-Gil was recently sold for a jaw-dropping Rs 6.9 crore at an auction in the ballroom of a five-star hotel. I happened to be there and was pleasantly surprised to see a room packed to the brim, buzzing with excitement. There were not just mere spectators but scores of serious bidders. In that one evening Rs 41.7 crore worth of Indian art was sold and it seemed a majority were bought by resident Indians. Most sold for above their reserve prices. For instance, the reserve price of the Amrita Sher-Gil was between Rs 2 and 3 crore. It was clear to me the serious Indian art collector and contemporary Indian art had arrived. I have an abiding interest in art and have been collecting contemporary Indian art since 1970. In 1995, my wife started Art Today, a premier art gallery in Delhi, and it exposed me to the works of a wide range of Indian artists. But they were all far more affordable then. That same year Sotheby's held its first auction of Indian art and the highest price of $7,475 (around Rs 3.75 lakh) was for a Tyeb Mehta work. Seven years later, his triptych, Celebration, at a Christie's auction in New York, fetched $317,500 (Rs 1.4 crore). It was a benchmark auction given that it was the point when prices for works by contemporary Indian artists started their upward spiral. It is now hitting astronomical heights. Last September, another Mehta sold for $1.6 million (Rs 7 crore). Just last week, auctions at Sotheby's and Christie's in New York, raised an astounding $29.27 million (approximately Rs 130 crore). The maturing of the market for Indian art and its growing domestic and international interest provided us a cue to focus on the subject for this issue's cover story. Art is now a subject of widespread interest across India and no longer restricted to a few connoisseurs. It is now a money-making proposition. The annual turnover of the Indian art mart is roughly estimated at Rs 2,000 crore. Our cover story analyses this spurt in the art mart, who are the big players, the new cash rich buyers and the blue-chip artists to invest in the future. We also look at the phenomenon of art funds being set up for people who want to invest but do not understand art. It also compares investing in art with the stock market and gold. Fortunately, we had the ideal person to write the story, Deputy Editor S. Kalidas, eminent art critic and son of legendary painter J. Swaminathan, who, incidentally, also sold for a record high at last week's auction. As Kalidas says, "Suddenly, art critics are very popular. I find myself cornered in all sorts of places. My biggest regret, however, is selling my father's paintings for a pittance in today's terms." Moral of the story: Hang on to whatever art you have. You never know! Index
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