We wrote about the Indian art market in one of our earlier posts. In this post we wanted to go a bit deeper and look at what recent trends say about the investment sentiment for Indian art and how we are reading some auction data points. To clarify, this is not an intelligence report, but more an opinion piece on what we read beyond the record breaking prices and numbers.
To start though, we would share some data we assimilated from the (very) few art intelligence reports on Indian market. As of 2021, it is estimated that Indian art auctions brought in Rs 880cr (approx. USD 107mn as of current conversion rate, though it would have been higher in 2021), a whopping 57% from the previous financial year 2019-20. While this is an impressive statistic to brandish about, it is also important to highlight that in spite of this growth, and including the gallery sales estimates, Indian art market represents less than 1% (actually just a few decimal points) of global estimate of art sales of USD 65bn.
Regardless, we will focus on the auction sales trends, as we promised at the start of the post!
In 2020-21, auction sales by value, number of sales, online auctions, record prices, all saw considerable jump from the previous year. This was particularly telling about the growing strength of the market since 2020 was the pandemic year (pandemic period accelerated online art platform across the world). Christies Auctions is also said to have reported that they saw a 31% increase in new buyers from India in 2021, as compared to the previous year, and a large number of these were millenniums and Gen Z buyers.
Additionally, most intelligence reports suggest that ‘Modern’ art segment continues to be the most preferred art buying category, accounting for over 96% of the works of the top 100 artists / artworks, and over 94% of the artworks which achieved record breaking prices in 2021.
These are all good statistics , and it looks like Indian art market has not only shown resilience but is also slated to become an important investment asset class. Art is peculiar that way. It is an investment asset class, and maybe considered a hedge against market volatility. There are art indices, investment platforms, art funds, securitisation agencies – all dealing with the commercial value of art. However, unlike other assets, it also evokes a strong personal passionate bias. There are reams of academic research, documentaries, articles, movies on just one important artwork / artist, not to forget passion projects, social media hashtags, etc. It hence becomes a fine balance to talk about this unique asset from purely a commercial standpoint vs the emotional response it evokes.
Additionally, unlike other investment classes, it is difficult to make future predictions based on historical, empirical data analysis. Since these are physical works (well mostly, though digital artworks, NFTs, AI generated works are making their presence felt), there is cost of storage, conservation, detailing, authenticity, as well as a question of provenance – to further add to the complexity of valuation and sales.
One of the reasons these factors get accounted for, as a matter of course, in the developed art markets (US, Europe, UK) is that these marketplaces have both the breadth and depth to cater to the underlying costs, and there will be buyers for pieces which can be verified and valued.
For markets such as India, while the statistics quoted above are heartening, the number of serious collectors and buyers remain a handful. This in turn makes buying, storing, looking after an artwork, an act of passion and devotion (we are being a bit hyperbolic here!), and contributes to its perceived illiquidity.
As in any mature market, for any type of good or commodity to prosper, the marketplace should have a thriving number of buyers and sellers. We feel that while the Indian marketplace is far from this scenario, it is changing, in the right direction, and it is only matter of time for the pace to accelerate. There are many underlying reasons as to why we believe this, and what needs to be done to make this happen (one of the reasons we started this platform), but that is a longer discussion for another post!
After this rather long background, we can finally talk about what we wanted to say in this post!
If you have seen our Instagram posts (@artkyk_talkart), you know we get excited about works, trends and artists. A few weeks ago, we realised that recent auctions for some of the artists we had been following were doing much better (in terms of values) than what they had done before, and new (for the auction space) artists who did not have long auction history were starting to beat their catalogue estimate prices. The story of an artwork is much more complex than what it might achieve in its last auction, but what this trend did indicate was that the market was warming up to absorb not only higher prices, but also expand the hitherto list of the blue-chip modernists and pre-modernists.
Below is a compilation of the few we had noticed and decided to write about on our social media posts.
Jamini Roy (1887-1972) Untitled (Dralha)
A popular artist in auction catalogues, so much so that almost all auction catalogues feature a work by Jamini in the first few!. However Jamini Roy has, in the past, not touched the heights achieved by some of the later Indian modernists.
This has started to change in the last few years. In 2021, the artists recorded Rs 4.32cr (approx. USD 530,000 in current exchange rates) in a Saffronart auction in India. In September 2022, he broke all previous sale records in a Christie’s South Asian and Modern Contemporary art auction in New York, selling at USD 579,600 (approx. Rs 4.7cr)!
Known for his bold black lines, and simplified forms, similar to the Kalighat pats, Jamini’s figures usually have large doe eyes and swathes of flat bright colours. Popular subjects include Krishna, mother and child, Christ and cats and deer.
The lot 601 at Christie’s September 2022 auction in contrast feels almost like a Thangka painting! Of course, experts will point out anomalies such as characters featured from multiple subjects, as well as the manner of detailing. But this is a rare work by Jamini Roy and it’s exciting to see it did so well above the estimates!
M.V. Dhurandhar 1867-1944
A contemporary of Jamini Roy, but from the other end of the country, he lived and worked in Bombay and was a student of the Sir. J.J. School of Art. In his lifetime he was extremely popular and had many commissions to his credit for portraits and mythological subjects.
Yet, Dhurandhar has not had much exposure in the current auction marketplace. However, this seems to be changing, as is evident in the last two auctions by Indian auction houses AstaGuru and Saffronart in June and September 2022 respectively. The two works at the recent auctions fetched Rs 4.82cr (AstaGuru, dated 1922) and Rs 8.04cr (Saffronart, dated 1934).
Interestingly both the paintings were of the same subject - a dramatic scene from the Mahabharata - with slight variation in composition and execution and of course the one in the Saffronart auction was larger of the two and had more detailing, which well justifies the price escalation.
Dhurandhar works centred on Indian mythology, with western composition and realism.
Amarnath Sehgal 1922-2007
Sculptures don’t get featured enough in auction catalogues and gallery exhibitions. Which is why we were pleased to see not just a sculptor seeing active bidding, but one who has not seen much auction action previously!
Amarnath Sehgal is known for his artistic prowess and finesse, particularly with bronze figures. His works are often associated with traumatic memories of India’s partition, but his versatility extends paintings, poetry, graphics and tapestries.
Even though he spent much of his active work like outside India, he finally settled in New Delhi and was active in banning large hoardings in the city!
On his 100 years anniversary, his family opened a museum of his works has been opened in New Delhi, a welcome move to showcase his art and life.
His works can be found in public and private collections all over the world, including the Musée d’art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, the 20th Century Museum of Vienna and Berlin, the Israel Museum, the National Gallery of Modern Art and the White House among others.
Some of his bronze figures got attention at a recent Saffronart auction with record breaking prices, well above the catalogue estimates.
We would like to reiterate that while prices in auctions are by no means a measure of an artwork, they do provide a pulse of the art market. It is therefore heartening to see a wider spectrum of Indian artists in the auction place getting their due!
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