“I think I could, if only I knew how to begin.” From Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland
We see art in many places, but seeing and looking at art is very different from making a commitment to buy. Why do we begin with rather left-field point? After all we have been talking (and we can talk endlessly about art!) about the pure joy of understanding and appreciating art, for art’s sake!
Well, because be that as it may, buyers of art will agree that making that first foray into buying can be a daunting prospect.
Many a times we get requests from friends and acquaintances about recommendations on which artist to buy. These are generally prefaced with a certain budget in mind, with very few other criteria. This for us is like finding a needle in a haystack!
They are confused, why can’t we just give some names they can look at, it’s not that complicated a matter. It is like asking an equities trader, analyst to make recommendations on which stock to buy, regardless of your preference of holding period, risk appetite, other investments in the portfolio….well actually even more complicated, since we don’t have long term trading indices to fall back upon! And we have to tacitly satisfy other sensibilities which go with owning art – can you live with it for a period of time, will it give you bragging rights over soirees, or even more basic than these, do you feel it was a good buy!
Let us explain.
For new buyers, a budget is a great place to start – after all , it’s good to have at least one defining criteria when wading into the unknown! But we now have to take it further. Any advisor or dealer will ask for some pointers on what you are interested in. For instance, are looking for contemporary art or the moderns, or would it be that you are more drawn to folk and tribal?
These are considered different categories in the art world. Why you ask? Because each genre represents a time-period, a history, a specific art style, and as importantly a history of sales and price points. It gets even more complex at this point.
If you are inclined towards moderns (it might be the case without you realizing…you have seen these works on other platforms, you have read something in the passing about their auction records, the works have been used in marketing platforms…), we (as advisors) at least know the overall sensibility and the price range. Say you have a ballpark budget of Rs five lakhs, we will immediately exclude some of the top names, and focus on the lesser sold ones (please always remember, the price points are not the measure of talent or quality of work, and these artists may become popular and more in-demand as the art market continues to grow). But of course, this doesn’t end here – the price range might still qualify for a later period small paper work by Ram Kumar or if you are lucky even M F Husain. The other option would be to consider print artworks, such as lithographs, etchings or viscosity by Krishna Reddy or Tyeb Mehta or Gaitonde. There are also some great serigraphs by some of the leading moderns that are signed and numbered but these are usually in a large edition.
If you are so inclined towards more contemporary works, you can look at works by mid-career contemporary artists, though you may not get them in a large format! Did we mention that artworks prices may also be contingent on size of the works, and the medium…
We hope as adventurous and curious buyers, you are willing to experiment and have a view on the aesthetics that you are looking for, then we would recommend that you consider up and coming artists. Here we would suggest that you not be overtly concerned about how the artist is going to perform in the future or look for guarantees of a favourable return. The emphasis in this instance of acquisition should be - does its aesthetics appeal to you, do you align with the artist’s philosophy, and most importantly can you live it day in and day out?
If yes, then you are in a good place to begin, because art at the end of it all is about your passion, what connects with you that work.
Of course, we suggest that you learn about the artist – where she studied, did she win any awards, has she been on any residencies. These are not defining criteria for making the purchase but rather they help you understand the growth potential of the artist.
Which brings us to the last category (for today’s discussion!) - folk and tribal art. Here again the options are many, such as Gond, Madhubani, Warli or Pats. Incidentally, even though its common to use the the generic terminology of folk and tribal, the practitioners of this artform are now in second, and in some cases third generation of painters and are known by their names having carved out a unique style for themselves. For instance, Jangarh would be considered as a ‘modern’ and his daughter Japani Shyam a contemporary practitioner.
We don’t want to confuse the matter at hand, and this makes for another article. The point we are making is that there are multiple levels at which you can begin your collector’s journey in folk and tribal forms as well.
Therefore, given the extensive playing field of the art world, it would be helpful to an advisor to have a few more qualifiers to help you embark on your journey of buying art, and as with everything in life worth doing, spend a little time, find out more – you will be surprised how much you enjoy the process.
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