CONTEMPORARY ONE WORD SEVERAL WORLDS

mercredi 30 décembre 2009

A guide in search of a context - Veteran artist helps visitors at CIMA Gallery interpret an exhibition

Source : The Telegraph by Arka Das
Twenty-two year old tribal artist Mayank Kumar Shyam’s Chiria (Bird), based on a work from Subodh Gupta’s seminal everyday objects series, threw up intriguing interpretations. “The contexts are completely different. They are completely internalised, and the sutras are personalised. Thus, the interpretation is all the more interesting,” said Shuvaprasanna. The chiria, the bird, as a symbol of freedom from the urban clutter, perhaps? “Maybe,” smiled the tour guide, starting off what promises to be a series of walk-throughs at CIMA.
> read full article

In Search of a Context

Source : ArtSlant by Dr. Rituparna Basu
In a conscious attempt to break free from the trammels of tradition and reinstitute old images in a more global contemporary context, the CIMA Gallery brings together the works of seventeen artists from a cooperative workshop in Kolkata with its show “In Search of a Context.” The exhibition’s diverse works are united by the simple and powerful principle of reinterpretation: each piece is derived from the artist’s response to an earlier work by another artist.
> read full article

lundi 28 décembre 2009

Year of revival

Source : Deccan Herald
The economy may still be struggling to cope with the slump in the market, but Indian art has managed to hold its own, especially on the global stage. A study by ARCO-Madrid attributed this market surge to two factors — while younger artists were getting greater visibility both in shows and auctions globally, the gallery space also saw a boom this year. Though largely centred in New Delhi and Mumbai, new galleries and independent art centres were being created all the time in upcoming markets like Chennai, Bangalore and Kolkata as well. An overview of the Indian art scenario in 2009, thus, threw up several interesting new trends.
> read full article

vendredi 18 décembre 2009

Art contemporain indien : le trio de tête

Source : ArtMarketInsight
Dans les années 90, le second marché en Inde était quasi inexistant. Entre 2000 et 2008, l’indice des prix de l’art contemporain était multiplié par sept ! Si Anish KAPOOR et Subodh GUPTA font partie des quinze artistes contemporains les plus cotés aux enchères toutes nationalités confondues, avec des produits de ventes respectifs de 11,2 M€ et 10,7 M€, le troisième artiste indien le plus coté du moment, TV SANTOSH , réalise un score dix fois moindre (1,2 M€).
> lire plus

lundi 14 décembre 2009

Indian art mart churned – and moved on (Flashback 2009)

By Madhusree Chatterjee. Source : Sindh Today
Purging mediocre art and small-time investors, the market corrected artificially inflated prices, found new ways to reach out to buyers and distilled itself to cater to serious collectors and dealers with quality works by modern masters and established contemporary artists. The handful of new artists who managed to survive the churning were the ones whose works showed promise. Even the nature of art exhibitions in Indian metros changed by showcasing the works of leading artists in groups instead of solo shows. Asian art experts at Christie’s and Sotheby’s said the market started picking up post-Diwali in November and hopes to be on a stable track again by March 2010.
> read more

Canvas by Manjit Bawa sells for record Rs1.7crore at Saffronart auction

Source : DNA India
An untitled canvas by Manjit Bawa sold for Rs1.7 crore at a recent online auction which apart from creating a world record for the late artist has also indicated a return of confidence in the Indian art market. At its winter 2009 auction leading domestic auctioneer Saffronart grossed a total of 20 crores by selling 78 of the 100 lots made available for bidding with 62 per cent of the works exceeded their pre-sale estimates.
> read more

vendredi 11 décembre 2009

Husain-Raza to show together in London from today

By Anubha Sawhney Joshi. Source : Times of India
Starting today, the two artists will show together at The Kings Road Gallery & Tanya Baxter Contemporary in London till January 31. "I don't even remember the last time we showed together," says 87-year-old Raza, over the phone from London. "I'm looking forward to meeting my old friend Husain, always the outspoken one in our group."
> read article

mercredi 25 novembre 2009

Saffronart's Winter Online Auction 2009

Source : PR Newswire
Saffronart, India's leading auction house for Modern and Contemporary Indian Art, will host its annual Winter Online Art Auction on December 9-10, 2009. Presenting 100 lots of exceptional quality and provenance by 51 leading modern and contemporary Indian artists, the sale will take place online at www.saffronart.com

dimanche 22 novembre 2009

The politics of contemporary, folk

By Kishore Singh. Source : The Economic Times
Within (but without) a debate about forms, artist Dhaneshwar Shah creates an alternate world. A hundred-odd years ago must have been an unusual time in artists’ studios and ateliers in the Indian subcontinent as the European eye and brush began to dominate the way art was perceived, or taught, or bought. It resulted in odd mixes, lots of experimentation, a churn, and a rapid turn to works that were painted in the European tradition, even though the context remained Indian. Whatever the result, it led to the unfortunate derailment of the country’s engagement with its own art tradition, something which had been part of its fabric for hundreds and even thousands of years. Now, suddenly, it was “folk” or “traditional” without merit in the new artocracy.
> read more

samedi 21 novembre 2009

Les milliardaires indiens trustent 25 % du PIB du pays

Par Julien Bouissou. Source : Le Monde
Une nouvelle "caste" se développe en Inde : celle des milliardaires en dollars. Le pays en compte 52, d'après le classement publié le 19 novembre par le magazine Forbes, contre seulement deux en 1996. Après une diminution de moitié en 2008, leur nombre est presque revenu à son niveau de 2007. Pour eux, la crise aura été de courte durée. La Bourse de Bombay a enregistré une hausse de 76 % depuis janvier, sa meilleure performance en dix-huit ans, et la croissance économique de l'Inde devrait approcher les 6,5 %. Ce sont la construction, l'énergie, la pharmacie et les médias qui sont les plus représentés dans le classement du magazine. Le président de Reliance Industries, Mukesh Ambani, est en tête, avec une fortune estimée à 32 milliards de dollars (21,4 milliards d'euros), cinq fois plus importante que celle du Chinois le plus riche, Wang Chuanfu.
> lire l'article

mercredi 18 novembre 2009

Indian artworks on Global Safari

By Ashoke Nag Source : The Economic Times
Indian art is clearly going far beyond its shores. Year 2009 has seen Indian art travel from Japan to Vienna and New York to Berlin. The Mori Museum in Japan which hosted a show titled ‘Chalo India’ curated by Akiko Miki was a wonderfully comprehensive exhibition of contemporary Indian art. At the same time, Sotheby’s upcoming auction of international contemporary art in mid-November in New York, has included one of Jitish Kallat’s works, titled Dawn Chorus 17. Top galleries like Hauser and Wirth, Victoria Miro and Thomas Gibson in London, Gallery Krinzinger in Vienna and Gallerie Christian Hosp in Berlin are hosting shows by Indian artists.
> read more

samedi 14 novembre 2009

Upswing in Indian art market confidence

By Anindita Ghose Source : Livemint The Wall Street Journal
The liquidity in the Indian art auction market is down 54% since September 2008, when Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Saffronart raised $23.9 million. The recent sales in September 2009, raised a total of $11 million. 61% of the respondents believe the modern Indian market could face more downward pressure on prices. In the contemporary Indian market, 75% of the respondents believe that prices will continue to decrease. However with an expected downward pressure on prices, the risk of speculation has re-entered the market, after a significant drop in May 2009. The ArtTactic Speculation Barometer shows a 21% increase in the contemporary Indian market. Respondents surveyed expressed concern that significantly lower prices are providing an opportunity for speculators to re-enter the market.
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Husain wants to go home

Source : Asianonenews
In 2006, Husain's painting Mother India - it shows a nude woman, the depiction of a Hindu goddess, kneeling on the ground to create the shape of the Indian map - led to protests and threats by saffron outfits (Hindu radicals who associate themselves with that shade). Fearing for his safety, the artist left India and has been living in Dubai and London for the past three years... "In India, I'm seen as the first in my field. In my institute, I'm just the 15th Nobel laureate," he said. There is only one M.F. Husain and, like his art, he is precious. It will be a shame for a nation that prides itself as a rising economic power to let one of its geniuses spend the last years of his life in a foreign land.
> read more

vendredi 6 novembre 2009

The politics of contemporary, folk

By Kishore Singh. Source : Business Standard
A hundred-odd years ago must have been an unusual time in artists’ studios and ateliers in the Indian subcontinent as the European eye and brush began to dominate the way art was perceived, or taught, or bought. It resulted in odd mixes, lots of experimentation, a churn, and a rapid turn to works that were painted in the European tradition, even though the context remained Indian. Whatever the result, it led to the unfortunate derailment of the country’s engagement with its own art tradition, something which had been part of its fabric for hundreds and even thousands of years. Now, suddenly, it was “folk” or “traditional” without merit in the new artocracy.
> read more

dimanche 1 novembre 2009

Fundamental tips for investing in art

By Lisa Mary Thomson. Source : The Economic Times
Most wealth managers also recommend that to benefit from appreciation in the art market, you will need to stay invested for at least five years. For new investors though, it is safest to begin with investing anywhere between 5-10% of their portfolio in art, says Nipun Mehta, executive director and head-India of SG Private Banking.
> read more

mercredi 28 octobre 2009

La Chine et l’art contemporain : Bilan

Source : Art Market Insight
L’art contemporain asiatique en général et chinois en particulier fut, ces cinq dernières années, l’un des marchés les plus brûlants aux enchères. Outre la découverte et la valorisation d’artistes désormais phares, le brusque éveil de l’art chinois dans les salles de ventes à partir de 2004 a généré des espoirs fous chez les artistes autochtones et stimulé de nombreux spéculateurs et fonds d’investissements, se pressant sur de jeunes signatures inconnues par peur de manquer la prochaine poule aux œufs d’or. La spéculation sur les signatures chinoises et les performances époustouflantes ainsi réalisées ont d’ailleurs largement contribué à gonfler la part de l’art contemporain sur le marché mondial (sur le marché des œuvres négociées à plus de 100 000 $, la part de l’art contemporain s’élevait en effet de 7.5% à 19.7% entre 2004 et 2008).
Il faut dire que l’art chinois contemporain ouvraient des perspectives de plus-values extraordinaires : affichant un indice de prix en progression de +500% entre 2004 et 2008. L’offre gonflait en réponse à une demande pressente, portant les contemporains chinois au niveau des contemporains anglais, américains, allemands et indiens les plus cotés : en 2002, il y avait un seul artiste chinois dans le TOP 100 mondial (classement par produit de ventes) ; il y en a 34 aujourd’hui, contre 20 américains.
Outre les contemporains chinois, des artistes thaïlandais, indonésiens, indiens, coréen rivalisent avec les grandes signatures de l’art occidental. Les artistes asiatiques sont en passe de dominer le marché de l’art contemporain mondial : ils sont aujourd’hui 44 à se disputer les places du Top 100, contre 27 européens. Pour la première fois cette année, le volume d’affaires réalisé en salles des ventes par l’art contemporain dans la zone Asie est supérieur à celui des Etats-Unis (130 M€ contre 123 M€, entre juillet 2008 et juin 2009). En dégageant 95M€ de produit des ventes d’art contemporain, entre juillet 2008 et juin 2009, la Chine impose sa troisième position mondiale dans ce secteur.
> lire l'article

dimanche 25 octobre 2009

Une FIAC très active, des galeristes satisfaits voire "enthousiastes"

Par Pascale Mollard-Chenebenoit. Source : AFP
La 36e édition de la Foire Internationale d'Art Contemporain (FIAC), qui s'est achevée dimanche à Paris, a été très active, les galeristes exprimant leur satisfaction, voire leur "enthousiasme" devant le retour des collectionneurs et le bon climat d'affaires. La fréquentation de la foire, qui a ouvert jeudi au public, est en "sensible augmentation", a indiqué dimanche à l'AFP Martin Bethenod, commissaire général de la FIAC, à quelques heures de la fermeture des portes. Le nombre de visiteurs devrait avoir progressé de 23%, atteignant 80.000 visiteurs, contre 65.000 en 2008, selon une première estimation.
> lire l'article

vendredi 23 octobre 2009

FIAC’s Cour Carrée “So Good It’s Scary”

By Judd Tully. Source : Art info
Shireen Gandhy longtime director of Mumbai’s Chemould Prescott Road Gallery could barely contain her excitement as Malaki exited her booth.
“It’s fantastic,” said Gandhy, whose stand was devoted to photographs, “because we came here with a lot of apprehension, but we’ve done so well today, it’s back to the times when I sold big-ticket items to big collectors.”
Gandhy had already sold Rashid Rana’s Rothko-esque C print What Lies between Flesh & Blood 2 (2009), from an edition of five, for €55,000 ($82,500), and Jitish Kallat’s Cenotaph (A Deed of Transfer) (2007), comprised of 20 lenticular prints depicting a slum street in Mumbai “to a big French collector” for €22,500 ($33,800).
Gandhy also sold Vivan Sundaram’s Metal Box (2008), a large digital print on archival paper, for €8,000, and two 2009 digital prints by Tushar Joag, The Races and Yet Unbridled, for €9,000 apiece.
“I don’t even apply to Frieze,” says Gandhy, “because it’s very hard to do two fairs back to back — and besides, I sell mostly to French collectors.”
> read more

Fiac 2009 : le marché de l'art renaît à Paris

Par Jérôme Stern. Source : Slate
Corrélé aux indices boursiers mais avec quelques semaines de retard, le marché de l'art contemporain joue sur une reprise annoncée, d'autant que les prétentions tarifaires des artistes ont été révisées, en recul de 15 à 30% pour les pièces les plus notables, davantage pour les lots moins importants. Conséquence, le deuxième trimestre 2009 n'a pas été aussi mauvais que prévu, et les premières vacations de cet automne marquent le retour de quelques acheteurs... très prudents, qui se contentent des valeurs sûres à des prix raisonnables: à New York en septembre, Christie's adjugeait «Dawn Chorus 7», de l'Indien Jitish Kallat 320.000 dollars, record pour l'artiste quand, encore, près de 40% des autres lots mis en vente ne trouvaient pas preneur. /.../
Paris profite de donc de sa «sagesse» décriée lors de la folle période précédente: disposant aujourd'hui d'un surplus de liquidités, les collectionneurs reviennent. Paris est redevenue une place qui compte dans le domaine artistique mondial.
> lire l'article

mardi 20 octobre 2009

Débat sur l’art : c'est au tour du Brésil dans le marché international ?

Source : Brasilidade
Pour le professeur d'histoire de l'art contemporain de l’Université de Campinas, Nelson Aguilar, il existe aujourd’hui une plus grande reconnaissance de l'art brésilien à l'étranger. D’après lui, l'émergence du pays sur la scène économique internationale y est pour beaucoup. Il a souligné aussi l'intérêt croissant pour l'art des autres membres du groupe BRIC, comme l'Inde et la Chine.
> lire l'article

dimanche 18 octobre 2009

The Raja's New Clothes

Raja Ravi Varma’s Lady With Fruits, reinterpreted by contemporary artist Waswo X Waswo
By Anooti Vishal. Source : Times of India
One alabaster arm is wrapped around her stomach, the other holds a bowl of fruit. A classic Raja Ravi Varma oleograph, you think approvingly, until your gaze travels upwards and you notice with a lurch that what is being held aloft is not fruit but a head on a platter. This grisly juxtapositioning is a comment by the artist Waswo X Waswo on the emerging superpower, India, and clearly there's nothing Gandhian about its rise. Waswo has cleverly reworked a trademark Ravi Varma image, Madri, to layer it with references, not all of them flattering.
> read full article

vendredi 16 octobre 2009

A Londres, l'art contemporain se vend très peu cher ou très cher

Par Harry Bellet. Source : Le Monde
Mon tailleur est riche. Et avisé : on lui doit une analyse éclair du marché londonien. "Au-dessous de 500 000 livres sterling, dit-il, tout se vend. Au-dessus de 3 millions aussi, car les gens très fortunés le sont toujours autant. C'est dans la tranche intermédiaire que ça se gâte." Il parlait de l'immobilier, mais cela vaut aussi pour l'art contemporain, dans une gamme de prix toutefois en deçà. Et cela s'est vérifié à Frieze, la foire d'art contemporain qui se tient à Regent's Park jusqu'au 18 octobre/.../ Fini l'époque où les oeuvres s'arrachaient dès la première heure à des prix démentiels. Les collectionneurs avisés négocient. Et puis, effet de la crise, les traders, ces jeunes gens de la City, ne sont plus là. "Ils achetaient de l'art comme des Aston Martin, pour le life-style", confirme le directeur d'une galerie. "Et quand ils voulaient quelque chose, ils le voulaient tout de suite, quitte à le surpayer. Aujourd'hui, ils touchent probablement les mêmes bonus qu'avant, mais leur banque leur a demandé d'être plus discrets..."/.../ Or cette volonté de discrétion fait que l'on trouve de moins en moins d'oeuvres importantes dans les foires. L'artiste indien Subodh Gupta en est un exemple. Il a réalisé une sculpture représentant La Joconde, revue par Marcel Duchamp, avec barbiche et moustache. Elle existe en plusieurs exemplaires, et en deux tailles. Les petites se sont arrachées à la foire pour 120 000 euros chaque. Les grandes ont été vendues bien avant, dans les locaux de la galerie Hauser & Wirth, en toute confidentialité. Pour 900 000 euros pièce.
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mardi 13 octobre 2009

Indian artmart in colourful mood

By Ashok Nag. Source : The Economic Times
After more than an year-long economic gloom, the auction scene for Indian art is showing signs of a recovery. The improvement is evident in the number of lots sold and prices that the masters and the relatively rarer works have begun to fetch.
> read more

vendredi 9 octobre 2009

Indian art pushes into European marketplace

Source : Earth Times
The current exhibit Chalo! India at the Essl Museum in Klosterneuburg outside Vienna offers an overview of the trend. Friends of Indian art in Germany also are getting more access to Indian art. Beck and Eggeling will hold an exhibit of Sharma's work in January. American Peter Nagy, one of the pioneers in the world of art from the subcontinent, opened the gallery Nature Morte 10 years ago in the capital New Delhi. It has a branch in Berlin that opened about a year ago.
> read more

vendredi 2 octobre 2009

Rough times draw Indian entrepreneurs to the arts

by Phil Hazlewood. Source : Agence France Presse
The Indian art world has been hit hard by the effects of the global economic downturn, but for a group of entrepreneurs in the financial capital Mumbai, there is no better time to open a new gallery.
> read full article

samedi 19 septembre 2009

Buyer confidence coming back, say reports

By Nalini S Malaviya. Source : The Economic Times
Auction reports and art market surveys indicate the health of the market. These are often a reflection of the buyers spending capacity and the confidence that a particular market or artist instills across regions.
It would interest collectors and investors in art to know that according to the ArtTactic Art Market Confidence Indicator (US and European art market confidence survey), the confidence is cautiously coming back again. What is even more interesting is that the speculation risk appears to be reducing.
> read full article

vendredi 18 septembre 2009

Asian Art Draws Some Collectors

By Kelly Crow. Source : The Wall Street Journal
The week of Asian art auctions that ended Thursday afternoon in New York offered early signs that some collectors, largely from China and India, are returning to the market in search of rare or discounted artworks.
> read full article

jeudi 17 septembre 2009

Christies NY 17 sept : L’art Indien, à l’image de l’économie du pays, confirme un retour à la confiance

Les modernes confirment la stabilité du marché pour les œuvres majeures des artistes historiques. Une oeuvre de Tyeb Mehta (décédé en 2009) repasse la barre du million de dollar. « Mahishasura » peinture de 1994 de ce grand maître de l’art moderne Indien estimée 600.000 - 800.000 $ adugée pour 1.280.900 $. Très bons résultats aussi pour certains artistes contemporains. Rashid Rana, Jitish Kallat (« Dawn Chorus – 7 » de 2007 estimé 80.000 - 100.000 $ vendu pour 386.500 $) et Atul Dodiya.
> résultats en ligne

mercredi 16 septembre 2009

Le rebond de la croissance mondiale repose sur les BRIC

Par Jean-Pierre Langellier (à Rio), Marie Jégo (à Moscou), Julien Bouissou (à New Delhi), et Brice Pedroletti (à Shanghaï). Source : Le Monde
Malgré la crise mondiale survenue il y a un an, la croissance indienne s'est poursuivie à un rythme soutenu. Elle a atteint 6,7 % sur l'année fiscale qui se termine au 31 mars 2009, et devrait descendre aux alentours de 6 % lors de l'exercice suivant. La mauvaise mousson de cet été, avec la moitié du pays touchée par la sécheresse, explique ce léger fléchissement. Hormis l'agriculture, tous les secteurs sont épargnés par la crise. La production industrielle a connu en juin sa meilleure performance en un an et demi. Et le secteur des services a maintenu son rythme de croissance de 6,3 % au premier trimestre 2009. L'Inde doit sa bonne performance à la robustesse de sa demande intérieure et à la résistance de son système financier, "peu connecté au reste du monde", comme le note Rajiv Kumar, directeur du Conseil indien pour la recherche sur les relations économiques internationales (Icrier).
Dans un pays où seuls 15 % de l'économie dépendent des exportations, la demande intérieure a été peu affectée par la récession mondiale, surtout dans les zones rurales, qui constituent la moitié du revenu national. Grâce aux programmes sociaux et à la hausse des investissements publics dans les infrastructures, les campagnes ont, au contraire, vu leurs revenus augmenter. L'Etat en paie le prix fort, avec un déficit budgétaire représentant 6,8 % du PNB. Et l'agence de notation Standard & Poor's a ramené de "stable" à "négatif" sa notation souveraine sur l'Inde. Le pays reste toutefois une destination attirante pour les investisseurs du monde entier, car il est perçu comme un relais de croissance idéal aux marchés saturés, et touchés par la crise, des pays développés.
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Indian contemporary art : the podium

Source : Art Market Insight
In the 1990s there was virtually no secondary art market in India. Between 2000 and 2008, the price index of Contemporary Art multiplied by seven! While Anish KAPOOR and Subodh GUPTA are among the world’s fifteen top-selling Contemporary artists with auction revenues of €11.2m and €10.7m respectively, the third top-selling Indian artist, TV SANTOSH , had a revenue total only one tenth of his peers’ (€1.2m).
> read full article

mardi 15 septembre 2009

Saffronart fetches Rs 17.6 cr in online auction

Source : Press Trust of India New Delhi, Sept 14
Indicating a resurgence in modern Indian art, online auction house Saffronart fetched a total of Rs 17.6 crore in its recent autumn auction, with Rs 3.4 crore worth bids received via its new mobile application.
Out of the 95 Modern and Contemporary Indian works put on auction, 77 per cent were sold of which 47 per cent exceeded their higher estimates with competitive bidding from India and international buyers in the Middle East, USA, East Asia and South-East Asia.
The highest individual sale fetched Rs 1.87 crore for an untitled work by Akbar Padamsee closely followed by RSFN Souza's "Old City Landscape" which went for Rs 1.82 crore, reported the auction house.
Dinesh Vazirani, CEO, Saffronart, said, "The results have exceeded our expectations with eight works selling for more than Rs one crore.

vendredi 4 septembre 2009

L'art contemporain indien s'expose près de Vienne

Source : Aujourd'hui l'Inde
Avec l'exposition "CHALO! India", le musée Essl à Klosterneuburg, près de Vienne, propose depuis mardi soir et pendant deux mois, l'une des plus grandes collections jamais présentées d'art contemporain indien.
L'art contemporain indien commence à être reconnu à l'international "Nous vivons une époque très excitante: l'art contemporain indien frappe le monde par son côté vibrant et robuste, et les défis sont immenses pour les artistes", s'est enthousiasmée Reena Saini Kallat, originaire de Nez Delhi.
> lire l'article

jeudi 3 septembre 2009

Delhi contemporary art fair transformed

By Lucian Harris. Source : The Art Newspaper
India Art Summit deemed a success, with strong sales of Indian art
The India Art Summit, held in Delhi from 19-22 August, may prove to be a key moment in the evolution of Indian contemporary art. The transformation of the summit from last year’s rather parochial affair was remarkable, and the result was a sense of exceeded expectations from the start.
> read full article

samedi 29 août 2009

Indian art’s bumpy ride in the market

By By Gareth Harris. Source : Financial Times
Art has only one language. Even if you don’t understand the content, you should at least be able to say, ‘My God, this is a good piece,’” asserts Subodh Gupta, who passes me one of a series of mangoes strewn around his Delhi studio. But the fruits aren’t for ingestion; the solid bronze pieces are a sculptural Dutch 17th-century still life, their “skins” dappled with subtly delineated blemishes.
The mangoes will go on show in an exhibition of new works by the Indian artist at Hauser & Wirth in London in October, the artist’s first UK solo show, alongside other impressive sculptural creations such as a reworking in bronze of Marcel Duchamp’s moustachioed Mona Lisa, a 7ft-wide stainless steel thali plate, two 9ft spoons and a set of cast Jeff Koons “Puppy” gift boxes.
This nod to a fellow art market darling (“I will never ignore Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst, they have given so much strength to young artists worldwide”) is another canny move on the part of Gupta, 45, who is acknowledged as India’s first contemporary art superstar. The Bihar-born artist, who started as a painter in the 1980s before branching into installation and video, has led the South Asian contemporary art boom with his towering sculptures crafted from tiffin food pots, milk pails and cow-dung patties. “My family works on the railways. I remember taking food to my dad in a tiffin,” says Gupta, devouring lunch.
> read more

jeudi 27 août 2009

Second India Art Summit Sees Overwhelming Attendance, Modest Sales

By Bharati Chaturvedi. Source : ArtInfo
The second India Art Summit in Delhi turned out to be an extraordinary event. With 54 mostly Indian galleries showing both new and favorite artists, a sculpture park, and several side events, it became more than just a standard art fair.
> read full article

lundi 24 août 2009

Indian Art Summit 2009: An 'arty' delight

by Srishti Jha. Source : Hindustan Times
In the recent times the art market was affected by the much talked about global meltdown. But now Indian art is getting back on rails. Amid the speculations and manipulations going on, the by and large feedback is that the real art and artists will continue to exist and attain greater heights. The second thriving Indian art summit has proved it. The Indian art summit 2009 had an immense response. Admits Neha Kirpal, Associate Director, Indian Art Summit, "I think whosoever took part in the summit had an awe-inspiring experience. We started with around 20,000 people working for us and by the end it was double in number. Commercially also we did very well as we had huge amount of sales. We again have had an outstanding response as we had last year."
> read full article

Seeing Red Dots

By Vandana Kalra. Source : Express India
When the gates closed at the India Art Summit on Sunday evening, the cash box was still ringing, the red dots were still going up and the smiles were getting wider. “Around 250 artwork have sold for a total value of around Rs 26 crore by exhibiting galleries. The total value of the artwork on display was around Rs 40-50 lakh,” said a beaming Neha Kirpal, associate director of the Summit. Business at the 2009 Summit was thus more than double of last year’s Rs 10 crore figure.
> read full article

Painted with passion

By Kapil Chopra. Source :The Telegraph
Let me talk about some art initiatives and how some people in our country are trying their best to promote Contemporary art which will make the genre all the more sought after in years to come. A lot of private individuals are doing their bit by taking private initiatives to further the cause of Contemporary art.
> read full article

vendredi 21 août 2009

It’s important to educate clients on how the art market works

Despite the rise and the subsequent fall in the Indian art market, there is still room for continued growth
By Anindita Ghose. Source LiveMint and The Wall Street Journal
Anders Petterson, founder and managing director of the UK-based art market research company ArtTactic, is in the city to attend the four-day India Art Summit 2009, which started on Wednesday. With a background in financial analysis, Petterson founded ArtTactic in 2001, responding to increasing interest in art market research and commentary. Petterson and his team use analytical frameworks similar to those used by financial markets to present statistical data for art markets in order to enable prudent investment.
> read full article

jeudi 20 août 2009

Summit brings affordable art to city

By Neelam Raj. Source : The Times of India
The curators have come, collectors stalk the aisles and there's loads and loads of art. Welcome to the India Art Summit which opened in the capital on Wednesday. Only in its second edition, the four-day event has put Delhi on the global art map. It's unlikely you will ever see such a wide sampling of work under one roof. So if you're heading to Pragati Maidan, here's a short guide that will make your art outing easier.
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mardi 18 août 2009

Rural Art Gets Respect at Two Mumbai Exhibits

By Kavitha Rao. Source : The New York Times

bhuri bai india tribal contemporary art

Bhuri Baï, acrylic on paper, 2003, private collection, Paris.

Art lovers in Mumbai can get a glimpse of a rarely seen contemporary art form at two galleries this month: work from rural or tribal areas of the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. In addition to showcasing these artists, the exhibits raise an interesting debate: some resent the easy labeling of rural artists as” folk” or “tribal,” arguing that such categories pigeonhole artists and prevent them from getting the respect they deserve. “We have to look beyond the tribal label,” said Khorshed Pundole of the Pundole Art Gallery, who has been collecting these artists along with her husband and co-owner Dadiba Pundole over the last five years, said. “Their concerns are the same as ours: global warming, pollution, the destruction of ecosystems.” In recent years, contemporary non-metropolitan artists (the clumsy but preferred term for the artists formerly known as “folk”) have attracted interest at art fairs, though art critics say they are still immensely undervalued.
> read full article

dimanche 16 août 2009

The art of recovery in a slow market

By Arati Menon Carroll. Source : The Economic Times
You know times are hard when the usually circumspect representatives of the Indian art market speak out of their combined pains. Until recently, they struggled to accept the arrival of a slump in the market, ostrich-like even as world over bellwether auctions registered tepid bidding and pivotal art fairs saw poor attendance. However, at a recently held panel discussion in Mumbai on ‘Growth strategies for a recovering art market,’ two points were driven home: that the Indian art market is not out of the woods yet and that passiveness is unacceptable.
> read full article

samedi 15 août 2009

The gods of art are here

By Kishore Singh. Source : Business Standard
India's largest art show will open next week on an unprecedented scale, amidst hope and optimism.
This, the ultimate outing for Indian art lovers, is a wet dream of possibilities and realities — the best that India has to offer, on an unprecedented scale, ranging from the pre-moderns to the very cutting-edge of contemporary art, wielding a swathe across geographies to include Afghan and Bangladeshi artists, European and Asian and India-born creators, from gigantic works to small formats, across a dizzying range of mediums, with the buzz but also the mayhem of a disturbed hornet’s nest. In the days leading up to the second edition of the Indian Art Summit, from August 19-22 at New Delhi’s Pragati Maidan, the ancillary industry has seen the kind of action it had become unused to — designers are being hired to style the galleries, framers are doing double shifts to complete assignments, customs officials are being harangued to clear artworks, catalogues are being prepared, printers are matching images with offset reproductions, price lists are being readied (with hope, cross those fingers!), even cranes hired…
…for what else can be used to shift the 890-kilo, gigantic Navjot sculpture that will be placed in the Sculpture Park by Delhi Art Gallery? Where, no doubt, it will keep company with another huge sculpture of a Dalmatian by who else but that irreverent humorist and sculptor Ved Gupta (courtesy Gallery Threshold). This is the first time India has seen such excitement with regard to sculpture, and who can blame us: Haven’t we, finally, got Britain’s Anish Kapoor (Lisson) to take a bow and send us his work, a nod to the country of his birth. Of course, you’ll find sculpture — plenty of it — in the stalls too, but in the Park, expect surprises, for this is the first time a range of artists and galleries are coming together to assemble and dissemble without barriers, so subjects can vary from the ludicrous to the intense — such as “ambitious sculptures by Shanti Swaroopini”, promises Threshold’s Tunty Chauhan, or Vibha Galotra’s “lovely installation of five buildings of fabric, wire, paper,” says Galerie Espace’s Renu Modi, “you go up and down, up and down…”.
> read full article

lundi 10 août 2009

What's in a name ?

by Ranjit Hoskote. Source : LiveMint and The Wall Street Journal
Misname an art form and you consign its exponents to decades, sometimes centuries, of condescension and indifference. Two exhibitions opening in Mumbai this fortnight may help undo the damage deliberate acts of misnaming and misinterpretation have done to contemporary art that is produced by artists who happen to be of tribal or more broadly rural background.
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mardi 14 juillet 2009

Down - but not available

By Kishore Singh. Source : Business Standard
Contemporary art prices have crashed steeply, so why aren't more works in the market?
- Values of contemporary art are down by as much as 60-70 per cent
- Enough contemporary artists have stood the test of time and their prices should turn robust soon enough
- There is very little contemporary art available in the market
Read those key points again and you will be hard put to reconcile them. If the contemporary Indian art market has crashed out, investors or collectors should be able to lay their hands on contemporary art at prices much cheaper than they were a few years, or even a year, ago. With less art selling, there should be more art available in the market. And those looking for a bargain should be spoilt for choice.
Or at least, that’s the theory. In a more practical world, however, this isn’t proving so.
Try looking for Jagannath Panda: Hmm, still tough to get. Ashim Purkayashta? Not right now. Atul Dodiya? Not at those discounted rates. At least a Riyas Komu? Sorry, there aren’t any in storage just now.
> read more

vendredi 3 juillet 2009

Art Bankers Take Advantage of Falling Prices

Source : Art Market Blog
The interest in structured art investment programs has continued to remain relatively high considering the recent concerns voiced by some regarding the state of the art market. Since the beginning of the year there have been several new art investment programs launched which suggests that the categorisation of art as an asset class has not been damaged by the recent market jitters. In fact, with plenty of bargains up for grabs there is probably no better time for art investment funds to be buying works.
The most significant of the new programs is the so called “Collection of Modern Art Fund” which is a product of the UK based Castlestone Management, a privately owned independent fund manager. According to the fund website (http://www.collectionofmodernart.co.uk) “Collection of Modern’s Art’s investment philosophy is focused on building a diversified portfolio of artists to provide medium to long-term appreciation based on thorough research and the proven strength of the market for these artists. The portfolio composition is a key component to ensuring the returns of the fund are in line with the market. With this achieved, the fund can act as a real asset, increasing in value with money supply and inflation and thus providing an inflation hedge. In the initial selection process, the manager aims to identify works of art for the portfolio that broadly represent the Art Market Research 100 index”
The second major art investment program to be launched is a collaboration between the China Merchants Bank and the China Contemporary Art Foundation. China Merchants Bank (CMB) have taken what is a slightly different approach to art banking by offering their clients the opportunity to put down a deposit on a work of art chosen a group of experts and take possession of the work of art for a period of twelve months. If after the twelve month period the client decides that they want to purchase the work of art they can do so or if they do not want to purchase it they can return it and receive a full refund. According to one of the bank’s representatives who was interviewed by the People’s Daily Online Newspaper, “Some banks hire art investment consultant and bring clients’ money to auction house. We are not doing that, because it easily slips out of control. We offer free transportation and as long as the artwork is well preserved, our clients will at least break-even”
Adding to the options for keen art fund investors is Phillip Hoffman’s The Fine Art Fund Group Ltd (http://www.thefineartfund.com/) who have indicated at the beginning of the year that they would be starting a new fund to take advantage of the fall in price of many works of art. Since the beginning of the year Hoffman has further indicated his intentions to raise $100 million dollars of the next year to purchase works from private and institutional collections that are up for sale. According to a report from the Financial Times, the group is currently looking at purchasing two major art collections one of which is owned by a Spanish bank and the other by a manufacturer. After postponing their plans for a dedicated Indian art fund creatively titled the Indian Fine Art Fund due to the current instability of the market for Indian art, it is good to see this new initiative from Hoffman.

jeudi 2 juillet 2009

Osian's auction reports year's highest averages

Art fraternity turns optimistic after months of poor valuations, by Kishore Singh. Source : Business Standard
Osian’s auction of modern and contemporary masters on June 30 in Mumbai fetched the highest average lot per price of any auction of Indian works this summer. At Rs 59 lakh, it bested Christie’s Rs 39 lakh, Sotheby’s Rs 24 lakh and Saffronart’s Rs 17 lakh.
But the good news is that the consolidation of prices that began at this summer’s auction has just been reinforced with an Untitled work by V S Gaitonde selling for Rs 3.12 crore (just under Christie’s Rs 3.14 crore for an F N Souza work at Sotheby’s, but way above the almost Rs 1.5 crore that Gaitonde commanded at the Saffronart auction).
Though the number of lots sold (51 per cent) was the least among the auction houses this summer (70 per cent on average), the Rs 17.22 crore auction fetched some more high prices. Another Gaitonde was sold for Rs 1.8 crore, while a Manjit Bawa Untitled work fetched Rs 1.6 crore. Works by Souza and Atul Dodiya managed bids at Rs 96 lakh and Rs 86 lakh, respectively.
Issues of liquidity have concerned the art fraternity since August 2008, but the mood has turned optimistic since June 2009, and quality works have begun to realise better values.
Osian’s Neville Tuli estimates the market could take nine to 15 months to recover fully, but signs of a hastening of interest in works of masters has led to crisper prices than many punters expected.

dimanche 28 juin 2009

Banque Mondiale: l’Inde retrouvera sa croissance de croisière en 2010

Par Yann Henaff. Source : Aujourd'hui l'Inde
Dans un rapport publié le 22 juin, la Banque mondiale révise à la hausse ses prévisions de croissance pour l’Inde, alors que les chiffres de la croissance mondiale sont revus à la baisse. La croissance indienne passerait de 5,1% en 2009-2010 à 8% en 2010-2011.
La croissance pourrait atteindre 8% en Inde en 2010-2011 La croissance indienne atteindrait 5,1% en 2009-2010, au lieu des 4% annoncés en mars dernier, prévoit la Banque mondiale dans son rapport Financement du développement dans le monde 2009 : Tracer la voie de la reprise mondiale, publié le 22 juin.
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dimanche 14 juin 2009

Art market on recovery path?

Source : The Economic Times
There are faint indications that interest in art is once again on the rise. With the stock markets improving in the last few weeks, there is a perceptible change in the financial situation and buyers are now showing a renewed interest in art.
As the financial markets are invariably interlinked, it is not surprising that once again attention is shifting to art. Although, the change is marginal, yet it is a good sign compared to the past several months where conditions had worsened to the extent that footfalls and sales in galleries were close to negligible. Most auctions that took place in this interim phase too performed poorly.
At least now, there are enquiries about interesting shows and specific artists. Although it is still very early to predict if the market is on a revival path, there is a strong possibility that things could improve. It is still early days and how much of this interest translates into financial tractions one will have to wait and watch.
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vendredi 12 juin 2009

Surprise success: Art Basel dispels credit crunch blues



Source : The Art Newspaper

Barbara Kruger, Untitled (I Shop Therefore I Am), 1987, sold for just under $1m from Thomas Ammann Fine Art (2.0/G4)

No return to the boom, but is the worst really over so soon?
Art Basel’s 40th edition continued to defy the worldwide financial slump yesterday, after the NetJets crowd had flitted off, leaving trails of cigar smoke, empty magnums of Cheval Blanc and throngs of prosperous European art lovers behind. Brad Pitt, Naomi Campbell, Roman Abramovich and music producer Pharrell Williams were among the celebrities who showed up. Major collectors including Eli and Edythe Broad, and Maria Bell, from Los Angeles; Don and Mera Rubell, from Miami; Stefan Edlis and Gael Neeson, from Chicago, turned up from the US; alongside a host of wealthy Europeans including Ulla Dreyfuss, Harald Falckenberg and Christian Boros.
Many of the 300 exhibitors came to the fair with low expectations and were surprised to find conditions less bleak than forecast. “I think the crisis is over in the art world,” said Basel-based dealer Miklos von Bartha (2.0/N5), who specialises in constructivist and non-figurative works. He sold ten pieces during the first two days of the fair, including French sculptor Bernar Venet’s wispy wood, 1982, One Indeterminate Line for 1160,000 to a Zurich collector. Venet’s work was also on view as part of the Venice Biennale, which helped prime sales all over the fair.
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Buyers' Market

Source : Time

Lekha and Anupam Poddar have opened their collection to all.

Anupam Poddar's new building looks like any other commercial edifice rising into the skyline of Gurgaon, a New Delhi suburb that has become synonymous with India's new economy. But inside, it's a different world. Instead of containing the cubicles, boardroom tables and ambitious young professionals that fill the neighboring high-rises, this one is crammed with contemporary Indian art.
All of it comes from the private collection of Poddar and his mother Lekha. The Poddars own a successful paper and construction business, but they are also patrons of the kind of art that doesn't hang neatly above a sofa — a pair of motorized mechanical cattle skeletons; a massive, gleaming cluster of stainless-steel utensils; a haunting video installation of a young artist pantomiming a bird's first flight. Their taste in art leans toward the "cheeky, ironic and witty," Poddar says. "If it will continue to excite, engage or challenge us in the long run, then we go with it."
The pair are part of a new breed of Indian art collectors whose fortunes have risen with India's economy — but who are not spending their riches on the established masters of India or the West. They seek out young artists, even those right out of art school, and collect their work with rigorous, passionate interest. The market has already boomed and bottomed but the serious collectors remain — and their sustained commitment is quietly transforming the Indian art world.
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Indian art defies downturn in the West

Source : The Economic Times
International auctions of Indian and Asian art seem to be turning out encouraging results even in midst of the downturn in the West.
The Christie’s sale of South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art in London has realised £2,430,275 ($3,973,450). The auction was sold 91% by value and 79% in terms of lots. While 96 lots were offered for sale, 76 were picked up by buyers.
The top lot of the sale is M.F. Husain’s oil on canvas work from the Ragamala Series which has gone for £397,250 ($649,504) to a private US collector. Following Husain, Rashid Rana’s Red Carpet - 4, a chromogenic print which is Diasec mounted, has sold for £175,250 ($286,534) to a private Asian buyer. Another private Asian buyer has acquired Ram Kumar’s Untitled (Benares) oil on canvas for £133,250 ($217,864).
Led by these top three lots, some other highlights include a Jamini Roy Untitled (Mother and Child) which went in the region of £12,500 ($20,200). On Jamini Roy’s heels, an F.N. Souza Untitled (The Church) has seen a price realisation of £85,250 ($137,764).
Keeping these names company, S.H. Raza’s La Terre has sold for £87,650 ($141,642), while Akbar Padamsee’s Village aux Quatre Maisons Oranges has found an auction price £70,850. In the same breath, another S.H. Raza, Germination, has gone under the hammer for £109,250 ($176,548) and a Jagannath Panda Untitled has been bought out for £22,500 ($36,360).
Christie’s international director of Asian Art, Hugo Weihe, told ET in an email from London, "In a packed saleroom with bidders in the room, on the telephone and on the internet, there was a tremendous sense of energy and spirited bidding in response to this carefully curated sale.
The breadth of interest spanned the modern and contemporary works, with discerning private collectors and trade responding consistently throughout to the attractive estimates. We are thrilled with these results, reflecting renewed vigour in the field. We look forward to our September sale in New York."

Indian art goes cheap at Christie's

Source : Business Standard
For now, the punters have been proved right. The sluggish art market for Indian modern and contemporary saw little hopes of a revival at the Christie’s auction of South Asian art in London on Wednesday, with most of the 76 (of 96 lots) sold well within their estimated value.
The star of the show was a 1960 M F Husain oil on canvas (Ragamala Series) that fetched a price of $649,504 (Rs 3.1 crore), on the lower end of its estimate. Rashid Rana’s Red Carpet 4 chromogenic print found a buyer, again within its estimate, at $286,534 (Rs 1.3 crore), while only Ram Kumar (Untitled, oil on canvas) surpassed his estimated value by approximately three times to sell at $217,864 (Rs 1 crore).
Not much was anticipated from the auction, and to that extent it did not disappoint. The more important forthcoming auction in terms of quality of works is now the Sotheby’s sale on June 16, also in London. Bidders anticipate it might generate livelier interest since the quality of works is marginally better, though they say some of the works on offer have been in previous auctions last year.
An interesting pointer at both sales is works consigned by European collectors – clearly a case of poor picks, or an economy going bust.

mardi 2 juin 2009

Le boom du mécénat d’entreprise

Source : Télérama
Longtemps négligé, voire suspecté, le mécénat d'entreprise connaît désormais en France un envol spectaculaire. 30 000 mécènes, de toutes tailles, ont apporté l'an dernier 2,5 milliards d'euros. Environnement, humanitaire, recherche, sport... Aucun secteur n'échappe à la « bienveillance » des entreprises, mais le premier de tous reste la culture, il est vrai portée par la loi Aillagon de 2003, qui défiscalise les dons à hauteur de 60 %. La crise pourrait-elle remettre en cause ces engagements ? Les plus ostentatoires, peut-être. Car les entreprises, à commencer par celles du secteur financier, cherchent désormais à gagner en respectabilité sociale.
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lundi 1 juin 2009

Une expo d’art contemporain indien dans 16 mois à Beaubourg

Par Juliette Tissot Source : L'Inde Aujourd'hui
Le centre Pompidou prépare une grande exposition intitulée pour l’instant "Paris Delhi Bombay, l’harmonie des contraires". Des œuvres d’artistes indiens et français vont se répondre en guise de dialogue entre la France et l’Inde. À découvrir à Paris à partir de mai 2010 et fin 2010 à New Delhi. EXPOSITION REPORTEE A MAI 2011.
"Ce sera la plus grande exposition en Europe jamais consacrée à l'art contemporain indien. Et c'est un nouveau concept d'exposition !", Alain Seban, le président du Centre Pompidou a exprimé tout son enthousiasme et son soutien au projet Paris Delhi Bombay lors de son passage à New Delhi, au mois de novembre.
Cette exposition n'ouvrira ses portes à Beaubourg qu'en mai 2010, mais les commissaires de l'exposition la préparent déjà depuis plusieurs mois. Fabrice Bousteau et Sophie Duplaix ont déjà fait plusieurs voyages en Inde à la rencontre d'artistes reconnus et à la recherche de ceux en passe de le devenir.
Paris Delhi Bombay ne va pas être une exposition comme les autres. Les commissaires ne vont pas se contenter de sélectionner des œuvres d'artistes indiens pour les amener en France. Non, Fabrice Bousteau et Sophie Duplaix veulent instaurer un dialogue entre deux pays reconnus pour leurs héritages et leurs vies culturels. Un dialogue d'art, de design, de mode, de film… Toutes les formes d'expressions artistiques auront leur place.

"Nous nous intéressons beaucoup à l'Inde, depuis longtemps, a expliqué Fabrice Bousteau. Nous y avons fait de nombreux voyages. Cette exposition est le fruit d'un désir. C'est une exposition sur l'art et la société qui évoquera la violence, le bonheur, la sexualité, le chômage, les choses bonnes et mauvaises, les œuvres seront des points de vues d'artistes sur nos sociétés".

Autre originalité, des artistes indiens vont venir en résidence en France travailler aux côtés d'un artiste français et vice-versa. Les œuvres se répondront. Les artistes vont donc correspondre à travers leur art. "C'est une exposition expérimentale où l'on ne cherche pas des noms connus. Pour l'instant, on rencontre des artistes, on cherche des idées. On interroge des gens de la société civile, des économistes, des anthropologues. L'art parle de la vie. Dans ces œuvres, Subodh Gupta évoque la nourriture avec ses installations réalisées à partir d'assiettes, de tasses".

Certaines œuvres vont donc être réalisées spécialement pour l'exposition. D'autres seront décrochées des ateliers et des galeries pour se rendre à Paris. Les commissaires de l'exposition n'ont pas encore révélé de noms d'artistes même si, dans la brochure de présentation de l'expo, ils ont mis en parallèle des artistes indiens et français comme Baba Anand et Pierre et Gilles qui ont en commun le sens du kitsh et qui pourraient être ensemble à Beaubourg en 2010.

Depuis une quinzaine d'année, l'art contemporain indien est d'une vitalité extraordinaire. Ce marché est d'ailleurs en plein boom. Par les temps qui courent, mieux vaut d'ailleurs investir dans l'art indien qu'à la Bourse de Bombay…

dimanche 31 mai 2009

Sunil Gawde, la touche indienne de la Biennale de Venise

par Sarah Collin. Source : Aujourd'hui l'Inde
Sunil Gawde, artiste contemporain né en 1960, exposera son œuvre "Allitérations" à la Biennale de Venise à partir du 7 juin 2009, avant de s’envoler pour une résidence au Centre Pompidou à Paris. Rencontre avant son départ, dans son atelier de Bombay.
Son oeuvre Allitérations sera exposée à Venise à partir du 7 juin D'où vient son inspiration ? Lui ne se pose pas la question. "Je crée comme je respire. Je suis un artiste !", dit Sunil Gawde. Son atelier immaculé du Sud de Bombay, au cœur du quartier du Fort, généralement plus prisé par les compagnies d'assurance que par les artistes, est baigné de lumière. Au centre de la pièce, une poutre en métal noir retient un gros paquet suspendu dans les airs, enroulé dans un drap blanc. À l'intérieur, mystère.
Pour nous, l'artiste lève le voile : il s'agit d'une ampoule noire géante, intitulée Blind bulb (ampoule aveugle). L'œuvre évoque à la fois l'absurdité d'un objet inutile, l'introversion et le repli sur l'esprit qui s'opère lorsque l'on ferme les yeux, mais aussi peut-être, la mort d'un espace où la lumière ne parvient pas… Sunil Gawde se montre intarissable sur son travail. Pourtant ce n'est pas cette sculpture qu'il présentera à la 53ème édition de la Biennale de Venise, du 7 juin au 22 novembre 2009. La pièce concernée, elle, voyage déjà vers l'Europe.
Son invitation à la plus ancienne manifestation d'art contemporain, Sunil Gawde la considère avant tout comme une formidable opportunité. "C'est extraordinaire de pouvoir exposer sur une telle plateforme, là où se trouvent les véritables amateurs d'art", confie-t-il. Il ne sera pas le seul représentant de l'Inde à Venise. Nikhil Chopra et Anju Dodiya, deux artistes de Bombay, y participeront aussi aux côtés de Sheela Gowda, une plasticienne de Bangalore.
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vendredi 29 mai 2009

The going’s still good

Auction houses strike an optimistic note ahead of the summer art auction season, by Himanshu Bhagat. Source Livemint.com The Wall Street Journal
Come summer and those who can, head for Europe’s cooler climes. This annual migration of the well-heeled Indian hasn’t escaped the notice of international auction houses; major London auctions of Indian art are held in June. This year, despite the economic downturn and crash in art prices, is no exception. “No doubt we are living in a different world,” admits Maithili Parekh, India representative of Sotheby’s, referring to the vastly altered market scenario since last summer. “But the positive thing is that it is becoming a buyer’s market.”
An auction house’s fundamental approach to selling art, she says, never changes—selecting and selling the best works by the best artists, which are priced well and have proven provenance (previous ownership and authenticity of a work). She accepts, though, that the downturn tends to make auctions “smaller and more focused”. Sotheby’s 16 June auction will feature 84 works—miniatures, modern and contemporary art, among them a work by Jogen Chowdhury, an early Paritosh Sen from his Paris days, and a work by Manjit Bawa (who died in December) that used to be part of the famous Herwitz collection.
Hugo Weihe, international director of Asia art at Christie’s auction house, agrees that auctions are more tightly curated in the wake of the downturn. “Now, selectivity is more important than ever,” he says. Ninety-seven works will go under the hammer at Christie’s in a 10 June auction, among them an F.N. Souza, an M.F. Husain, an early Tyeb Mehta and two works by Bawa.
Since buyers tend to be conservative during a slowdown, Weihe says masters from the modern period of Indian art, such as Husain and Souza, are in greater demand because they are “less of a risk”. As are “blue chip” contemporary artists such as Subodh Gupta and Jitish Kallat. “Their works have become more affordable,” he points out. “(And) these artists are here to stay.”
Parekh says well-priced, top-quality art is always of interest to buyers regardless of the economic scenario—works such as Women in Red, painted by Husain in 1964, are a highlight of Sotheby’s June auction. “The 1960s were a prolific and stellar time in his career,” she adds. “So this work is bound to get noticed and receive a lot of interest.”
The two major auction houses are very old—Christie’s was established in 1766 and Sotheby’s in 1744—and are likely to take business cycles in their stride. Mirroring the larger world outside, Parekh views weaker cycles as a corrective—strong artists and works emerge stronger, weaker ones suffer. “Good art will do well; mediocre art will fall slightly,” she says.
Around 2000, Indian art achieved a new level of prominence internationally and this higher profile was buoyed in the boom years that followed. The recognition was overdue, says Weihe. He points out that museums around the world are catching up—the Mori museum in Japan recently hosted Chalo! India, a show of Indian contemporary art, and the Guggenheim museum in New York is planning one in two years.
But, for all the hype, Weihe stresses that masters of the modern period such as Mehta, Souza and Husain still haven’t received the critical attention that is their due. “We need catalogue raisonne, monographs, retrospective exhibitions,” he says, adding that their early works are both under-appreciated and underpriced.

mardi 19 mai 2009

Hard times haven’t hit art that hard

By Georgina Maddox. Source : ExpressIndia
“In the times of recession, it becomes clear who is collecting art for the sake of it and who looks at it as a pure investment,” says Dr Hugo Weihe, International Director, Asian Art at Christie’s, the UK-based auction house. While the price of art may have fallen by 30 to 40 per cent, Weihe assured collectors that the high quality art will still get its price at the auctions. “We have come a long way. Since 2000 when Tyeb Mehta’s Celebration sold at 1 crore, we have not fallen back in our prices alarmingly. Admittedly, it has become difficult for us to get our hands on these rare pieces because most collectors are holding on to their art now,” Weihe adds. “We must remember that compared to China and the Middle East, the Indian art market is still a young one and has a lot of potential to grow,” said Weihe.
The auction house, with offices world over, held a talk and discussion about the value of art in these troubled times. On the panel were artist Jitish Kallat, Gallery owner and collector Abhay Maskara and collector Dillip De. De reiterated that he bought art since the 80s and was pushing up the prices of art for a good cause. “At a charity auction for Help Age India, I bid for a Laxman Shreshtha painting, priced at Rs 22, 000, to Rs 90,000. This was for a cause. It is important to put money into art to make it grow and for talent to prosper,” says De, who recalled days when artists used to travel by public transport and wear tattered clothes.
Maskara puts the artist at the top of the pyramid, and says: “The risk an artist takes is paramount to the making of art. Gallery owners may nurture it and collectors put their money where there mouth is, but the artist must take the biggest risk in making art that may not sell.” De countered this by pointing out that if no one bought art, it would sound the death knell for the art industry. “People were surprised when a painting by Gustuv Klimpt sold for 600 crore. The value of art can be pushed up by determined collectors.”
While both Maskara and Kallat agreed that collectors are a very important section of the art industry. “Art has navigated brutal times. The Klimpt or the any other work of that time was created in difficult times. In fact art can thrive in the absence of affluence,” says Kallat, sealing off the argument and bringing us back to the point that the value of art is more than the zeros attached to the price tag.

dimanche 17 mai 2009

Art syndicate hopes to snare £40m bargain

By Phillip Inman. Source : The Observer
A slump in the value of major artworks has encouraged a group of investors to form a bargain-hunting syndicate that yesterday said it was bidding to buy two corporate art collections worth more than £40m.
The Fine Art Fund Group, led by long-time art investor Philip Hoffman, is leading talks with a major manufacturer and a Spanish bank which are both keen to generate cash to shore up their finances. Works including a Picasso and a series of photographs by US artist Cindy Sherman are part of the collections on offer.
Recent auctions by Christie's and Sotheby's have catalogued a dramatic slide in prices of contemporary art after a high last September when a sale of Damien Hirst works fetched £111m. From 2003 to 2007, worldwide auction sales of contemporary art grew more than eightfold, according to the French-based database Artprice. However, the Hirst sale coincided with the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc and the rise in auction prices then came to a halt, said dealers.
Auctioneers insisted a "flight to quality" would maintain the multi-million pound price tags of old masters, but were less confident that 20th century works maintained their value.
Hoffman is confident that deals can be struck away from the auction rooms with corporations keen to turn paintings and sculptures into cash. He is understood to be building a syndicate of wealthy individuals to invest in the Indian art market after similar falls in art prices. "We believe that excellent works of modern and contemporary Indian art will come up for sale, both privately and at auctions," he said.

dimanche 10 mai 2009

Drop in prices may fuel art market revival

By Ashoke Nag, source : Economic Times
KOLKATA: Lower prices attract buyers. Although the art mart is not absolutely similar to the stockmarket, it may be true that correcting price tags of artworks could trigger acquisitions of art pieces. In fact, after a total lull in art purchases in galleries, silent signals seem to be emanating where a quality art work is being picked up by a buyer at lower levels. Veterans in the scene are of the view that the art market could revive if prices are dropped by an increasing number of galleries and artists.
"One seems to be sensing some stirrings where buying interest, albeit in a very limited way, is coming into a few galleries. Prices of artworks, especially paintings, in some cases, have dropped by around 40-50%. Auction prices have already gone to these levels. But, somehow, galleries had failed to reduce prices to that extent, perhaps because their acquisition prices were higher. Besides, most artists have a tendency not to reduce their prices," an art specialist and collector told ET.
It is no secret that, over 3-4 years till end-2007, prices were driven to astronomical levels in the Harshad Mehta-like boom in the art market. The Indian market had never seen anything like that before. But, even in the midst of this frenzy, it’s only a few modern and contemporary artists who really rode the boom. The rest experienced the ‘me-too’ phenomenon.
"Now, the reverse is happening. The taller the rise, the steeper the fall. This has saved, to an extent, artists who had hovered within a steady price range. Of course, from the sales standpoint, business is down for artists across the board. It may well transpire that despite the low prices at the moment, high-end artists could see an improvement in their tags once the recessionary blues pass," the specialist said.
According to him, art lovers are on the lookout for their favourite works at bargain levels because prices have become attractive. In fact, this is how the art market was established in India. At the outset, even the masters were available for only a few thousand. They were bought because of their affordability. "Art did not enjoy an investment value in those days. But, those who made acquisitions then, minted gold when the market was established much later," the collector-specialist said.
"Today’s art market situation is somewhat similar only at a higher level. It appears that today’s buyers may reap a like windfall when the overall financial markets and, in turn, the art market recover. Therefore, one can’t overemphasise the benefits of reducing art prices to fuel a decent revival," he summed up.

jeudi 7 mai 2009

India Art-Sales Confidence Drops 63% Since October

By Scott Reyburn. Source : Bloomerg.com
May 7 (Bloomberg) -- Confidence levels in the once-booming market for Indian art have dropped 63 percent since October as prices slide, according to a report published today by the London-based research company ArtTactic.
ArtTactic’s confidence index for Indian contemporary art alone declined even more, by 90 percent, during the same period. The indexes reflect the balance between optimistic and pessimistic art-market professionals. About a third of respondents believed the market for modern Indian art would rebound within two years. More than half thought demand for contemporary works would take between three and 10 years to recover, said the report.
“Problems first appeared in September 2008, around the time of the Damien Hirst sale,” Anders Petterson, founder of ArtTactic, said in an interview, referring to the U.K. artist’s auction at Sotheby’s that raised 111.5 million pounds ($199 million at the time) and coincided with the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. “The market has had six months to digest events. There has been a lot of art speculation in India and people see there’s nothing to hold these prices up any more.”
Art-investment funds have proliferated in India since 2006. In March 2008, some estimates valued the country’s art fund industry at $65 million to $75 million, though it could be as large as $250 million, said ArtTactic.
Demand for Indian art at auction has slumped as the country’s economy is battered by the deepest financial crisis the world has experienced since the Great Depression. The International Monetary Fund said on April 22 that it expected India’s economy to grow 4.5 percent in 2009, compared with the 7.3 percent achieved last year.

Auction Prices
India’s average auction prices for modern works have fallen 31.5 percent to $54,385 since March 2008, said ArtTactic. The average price of contemporary Indian art has dropped 72.7 percent to $13,827. During the period March 2006 to March 2008, when names such as Subodh Gupta, Rashid Rana and Bharti Kher were included in international sales at Sotheby’s and Christie’s International, the average auction price of Indian contemporary works had almost doubled, said ArtTactic.
Indian artists marketed by western contemporary dealers have suffered some of the biggest price declines at auction. At last October’s Frieze Art Fair in London, Gupta’s painting “Still Steal Steel #9” sold for 450,000 euros ($607,590). During the March auctions of Indian art in New York, the highest price achieved for a Gupta painting was $176,500.

Price Points
“Western galleries got involved with Indian art at a high price-point and now they’re stuck with it. They’re going to find it difficult to discount,” said Petterson. “A lot of collectors thought it was an unstoppable trajectory. In fact, it’s going to be some time before we reach the bottom.”
Launched in May 2007, the biannual ArtTactic Indian Art Market Confidence Survey was based on responses from a sample of 82 Indian and international collectors, auction house specialists, dealers and art advisers.
“The Indian art market went up so high so quickly, particularly at auction, that the repercussions were bound to be felt,” Conor Macklin, director of the London-based Grosvenor Gallery, said in an interview. “Younger artists who try to sell their works at 2008 prices are going to have a tough time.”
The Grosvenor Gallery, in collaboration with the New Delhi dealership Vadhera, is today previewing a selling exhibition of more than 40 works by Indian modern and contemporary artists.
Prices for modern Indian art have proved more resilient in the crisis, Macklin said, echoing the findings of ArtTactic. The Grosvenor show includes a 1962 painting of a woman’s head by the still-living “Bombay Progressive” artist Akbar Padamsee. The 4-foot-high oil work is priced at $500,000.
“This contraction is actually good for the market,” said Macklin. “It means new collectors can now afford to buy works that were just too expensive 12 months ago. And people will now look at the works as art, not just an asset.”
“Progressive to Altermodern: 62 Years of Indian Art 1947- 2009” runs at the Grosvenor Gallery, 21 Ryder Street, London, SW1Y 6PX through May 29.
The ArtTactic report is at http://www.arttactic.com.

lundi 13 avril 2009

Top 10 most influential contemporary art collectors

LEKHA & ANUPAM PODDAR
Lekha Poddar, from Delhi, began collecting in the late 1970s and her son Anupam in 2000. Together they recently set up the Devi Art Foundation. They now have 7,000 works of Indian art, ranging from tribal to contemporary (with some from neighbouring countries).
> read more

vendredi 10 avril 2009

mercredi 1 avril 2009

Hype and hysteria

Source : Business Standard Kishore Singh.
There’s decreasing demand, few transactions and no money anyway left over for art.
Typically, in the corporate world, when you buy goods such as computers, or furniture, or office cars, the secondary prices plummet while companies, or individuals, enjoy the tax breaks offered on account of depreciation.
Usually, though, when you buy art, the secondary prices tend to shoot way higher than primary prices, which is what had made investment in art so attractive, especially in the last decade when prices were shooting insanely upwards.
But a recent Saffronart auction seems to have shown a mirror to the art fraternity that has had a more sobering effect than a cup of coffee on a hung-over man. Not only were estimates for many of the consigned artworks in the sub-Rs 2 lakh category for established artists like Rekha Rodwittiya, Anjolie Ela Menon, Jogen Chowdhury & Co, several masters (F N Souza, M F Husain, Ram Kumar and others) too found their comeuppance with drawings or small works so attractively priced, even hacks like me considered cashing in our mutual funds for a shout ahead of the crashing gavel.
For the record, Anjolie Ela Menon’s oil on masonite work sold for Rs 2.6 lakh, Rodwittiya for Rs 1.8 lakh, a few Souza drawings barely scraped past the Rs 2 lakh mark, and if I hadn’t been let down by my mutual funds, I’d have outbid the collector who took home Jogen Chowdhury for Rs 1.2 lakh.
Which, logically, seems to be the problem in the art world. When people’s economic empires have crashed around them, when they’ve been slipped pink slips, but kids still have to be schooled and mortgage payments made, it’s logical they’ll sell anything that will convert into liquidity. And so a steady flow of art is making its way into galleries and auctions. But here’s the rub: Auction prices are public, gallery prices are not.
So artists are seething at the public erosion in their value, gallerists are upset over the outing of that information, collectors are heartbroken over the loss in their investments, and there’s an explosive pointing of fingers at each other. Bad times bring out the worst in people, and the art world is proving no different.
What’s laughable is that everyone loves transparency when the prices are going up and up and up — the auctioneers’ estimates then are bellwether references on which everyone benchmarks their prices — but hates it in a down-market. But accusing auction houses of dirty tricks is hardly creditable: After all, an auctioneer is merely an agent between a seller (who must be satisfied with the price at which the work is both estimated and sold) and the buyer (who must be comfortable about the price of his purchase), and would surely be happier with higher prices (and therefore higher commissions).
So, to my very good friend and gallerist, who asked, last week, whether her fraternity was overreacting: Alas, yes. And to my collector friends who want to know if it’s a good time to buy: If you have the liquidity, now’s the best.

vendredi 27 mars 2009

Indian art paints a new picture in downturn

Source Reuters India By Rina Chandran
An economic downturn has taken some colour out of India's once booming art market, but it has also brought back collectors who had been priced out by speculators splashing out on high-priced works.
At two recent auctions of modern and contemporary Indian art, works were priced lower and not all of them were sold, but quality works by well-known artists still saw fierce bidding.
"We are very encouraged by the fact that despite the slowdown, people are still looking to buy quality work," said Dinesh Vazirani, co-founder of Saffronart, whose spring online auction recently sold 70 percent of more than 100 works.
Prices are nearly 25 percent lower and the Saffronart auction netted 78 million rupees ($1.5 million), he said, just a fifth of the collection from the summer auction last June.
"But we are seeing old collectors who'd missed out during the boom, buying what they like, what they know," he said.
> read full article

jeudi 26 mars 2009

Food for thought from Eastern eyes

Terry Grimley reviews two major exhibitions of Indian art that have opened in the region.
Source Birmingham Post By Terry Grimley
While nowhere is immune from the worldwide recession, it seems that the Indian art market still remains buoyant.
> read full article

mercredi 25 mars 2009

Osian's collects sale of Rs 8 crore at IMCAC auction

Leading auctioneer Osian’s has notched up a total sale of over Rs 8 crore at its recent auction of Indian Modern & Contemporary Art and Craft.
Source : Economic Times by Ashok Nag.
This figure was a little below the lower presale estimate of Rs 8.9 crore. Of the 108 works on offer, 71 found buyers, registering a total sale of 66%.
While the average lot price clocked for the entire auction was at the level of Rs 11.42 lakh, the average lot price for Modern art was pegged at Rs 21.5 lakh.
The average lot price for Modern art has grown from Rs 15.25 lakh in the January 2009 and Rs 13.5 lakh in the February 2009 Osian’s auctions.
Bids came in from a large section of the audience of 400-odd people gathered at the Osian’s auction. The crowd comprised collectors, dealers, art lovers, bankers, lawyers, management consultants, mediapersons, artisans and craftsmen.
The auction witnessed "keen" bidding on the floor and over the phones. An Untitled mid-1930s work by Nicholas Roerich fetched the highest price at Rs 1.68 crore. At the same time, Akbar Padamsee’s oil on canvas Nude from 1987 sold for Rs 1.44 crore and Rameshwar Broota’s Sewadar swung Rs 1.14 crore.

"Interest for India’s first professional public auction of contemporary craft was evident as the prices attracted three times more than its lower estimate. Bids climbed as bidders upped the price of each lot that went under the hammer," Niranjan Desai, Osian’s spokesperson told ET.
Kalyan Joshi’s Story of Pabuji, a Phad painting from Rajasthan that was awarded the National Merit Award in 2006, sold for Rs 9 lakh, 900% more than its lower estimate.
Sanjay Manubhai Chitara’s work from Gujarat titled Visat Mata sold for Rs 4.5 lakh, 1286% more than its lower estimate.
Hectic floor bidding for a bronze statue by Bangalore-based M.V. Laxmanan, titled Shiva as Vindhara upped its price by 300% as it was finally grabbed for Rs 3.6 lakh.
"The consequences of this auction will be enormous for all the artisans and crafts people of India. It is a huge challenge to absorb this financial high," said Desai.

lundi 23 mars 2009

Art mart imitates economy’s life

Source : Hindustan Times by Gargi Gupta
After the global economic meltdown, the Indian art mart is in a bad way. Everyone knew, of course, but there’s confirmation now in the form of three big auctions that concluded this past week: Saffronart, Sotheby’s and Christie’s.
And more than the moderns — a term used for earlier generation painters such as MF Husain, Tyeb Mehta, Akbar Padamsee — it is the contemporaries, led by Subodh Gupta, who have been hit the hardest.
A large untitled canvas by Gupta at Saffronart sold for Rs 79,35,000, about 15 per cent less than its lower estimate of Rs 90,00,000 the auction house had fixed. That’s still high, but it’s 86 per cent less than the Rs 6 crore ($1.2 million) that the similarly sized ‘Saat Samundar Par’ fetched at a Christie’s auction in May 2008. At Christie’s most recent South Asian Art sale on Thursday, his untitled canvas went for about Rs 89 lakh.
It’s not just Gupta. An untitled charcoal on paper by Tushar Joag went for Rs 232,875 at Saffronart, far below its Rs 3-4 lakh estimated price range. So did NS Harsha’s ‘Nations’, which went for a little over a crore, as against its asking price of Rs 1.25-1.5 crore.
Auction houses, however, give a positive spin, concentrating on the high valuations a few works by the modern masters have fetched, notably a 1965 VS Gaitonde abstract which fetched $482,500 (nearly Rs 2.5 crore) at Christie’s. As Maithili Parekh, Sotheby’s deputy director for India, says, “Buyers are willing to pay for significant works, provided the provenance of the work is above board and the valuation is right.”

jeudi 19 mars 2009

Sotheby's NY Spring Asian Art Sales Bring $7,231,440 Well Within Expectations

Indian & Southeast Asian Art – March 18, 2009 Source : Artdaily.org
Sotheby’s auction of Indian & Southeast Asian Art, which included paintings and works of art, totaled $3,212,501, well within estimates (est. $2.8/4.1 million). Modern paintings accounted for the top eight lots, led by M. F. Husain’s Untitled (Two Women), which sold for $374,500 (est. $150/200,000), followed by F. N. Souza’s Untitled, bringing $302,500 (est. $100/200,000) and Akbar Padamsee’s Untitled (Nude) which achieved $242,500 (est. $200/300,000).
Zara Porter Hill, Director, Head of Sotheby’s Indian & Southeast Asian department, said: “Our strategy for this sale was to put together a tightly edited group of the finest works available, sagely estimated, and we were delighted to see the market respond so positively. It was especially encouraging that 100% of the top ten lots were bought by, or for, established collectors, highlighting the strength at the top end of the market. There was solid interest in 18th-19th century Tibetan paintings, a trend which was initiated by the Jucker sale held at Sotheby’s in March 2006. There is also strong demand for early works of art, rare, good-quality miniature paintings, and for established post-war Modern artists. Clearly auctions containing such works continue to attract top-level interest.”
Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art – March 17, 2009 Sotheby’s sale of Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art brought $4,018,939, above the low estimate (est. $3.9/5.6 million), and highlighted superb ceramics from the collection of Gordon Getty: A rare pair of ‘Famille-Rose’ ‘Eight Daoist Immortals’ jars and covers, Qianlong iron-red seal marks and period, which sold for $632,500 (est. $300/400,000) and a rare ‘Famille-Rose’ ‘Boys at Play’ lantern-shaped vase, also Qianlong iron-red seal mark and period, which achieved $602,500 (est. $300/500,000). Other highlights included the large painting of Eight Beauties by Hua Xuan, circa 1736, which brought $374,500 (est. $200/300,000), and The Conquests of the Emperor Qianlong, a set of sixteen engravings and eighteen panels of calligraphy, that reached $164,500, more than four times its high estimate (est. $30/40,000).
Commenting on the sale, Dr. Caroline Schulten, Head of Sotheby’s Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art Sales, North America said: “We are very pleased with the results of today’s sale, which demonstrate that in times like these there is demand for rare and high quality works of art with good provenance. We were thrilled to see such strong competition for 18th century Imperial mark and period porcelain, as evidenced by the high prices achieved for the Getty vases and other of today’s top lots, along with the competitive bidding for the set of engravings, sending it to six times its high estimate. Overall, we were encouraged by the number of new buyers competing for many of our top lots.”

mercredi 18 mars 2009

Good Buy

Source : Express India by Georgina Maddox
Auction houses woo buyers with affordable, quality works.
The season of art auctions is here again, with ways to beat the recession blues. Art patrons are once again buying art, since the prices are plummeting. Paper works by master artists are now within reach, while younger and more affordable artists are selling like hot cakes. Indian crafts too are having a good time with newer avenues emerging to find buyers for artifacts.
After its auction on March 13, Saffronart has reported the “grand total” of its sales at Rs 7.8 crore. Even though it falls short of auction earnings like Rs 34 crore only a year back, it brings good news. It indicates that the business is still on and that many top-bracket artists are becoming affordable. The highest bid at Saffronart was Rs 1 crore for N S Harsha’s large painting Nations.
Earlier, Saffronart had set the benchmark of Rs 4-5 crore for Subodh Gupta. Now, Gupta’s canvas has slipped down on the price chart and is sold at Rs 79.35 lakh. His untitled painting of stainless-steel utensils, however, drew the second highest bid at the auction. Not just Gupta, FN Souza too has become more affordable with his paper work going under the hammer at Rs 53.18 lakh.
Saffronart founder Dinesh Vazirani is far from being glum. “The auction mirrors our assessment of the art market. We noticed an interest in new names, and we have sold almost 70 per cent of the works put up for bids. People are still responding to quality works,” he says.

A focus on crafts is emerging, and it will be evident at the upcoming Osian’s auction of pre- and post-independence art. Tying up with the Paramparik Karigar, an organisation of craftspeople, Osian’s will be promoting Patachitra paintings from Orissa, Gond paintings from Madhya Pradesh and Phad from Rajasthan, among others.
“Osian’s is not in panic mode. We are known to introduce new collectibles, like poster art, into the market. Introducing craft is just another step in that direction,” says Neville Tuli.
Noticeably, the craft works are half the price of the modern and contemporary works that are up for sale at the auction. Osian’s will not be charging the usual 20 per cent buyer’s premium on art this time.
Not to be left behind, Christie’s auction of South Asian modern and contemporary art in New York on March 19 has prices that are wallet-friendly. It has paper works by MF Husain costing Rs 6-35 lakh. The auction also has Ram Kumar’s works up for bids at Rs 1 crore — a far cry from the days when the artist’s painting sold for Rs 4 crore and above. It seems like a good time to buy art, but a bad time to sell it.

vendredi 6 mars 2009

The rise and fall of the Indian art scene

Source : Khaleej Times Online
The past fifteen or so years have seen India’s booming economy dramatically propel the country into the 21st century, bringing with it hitherto-undreamt of possibilities, prosperity and success. And, riding in the slipstream of excitement...
unexpected beneficiaries of the sudden affluence, have been the country’s emerging artists, simultaneously enjoying a wave of creativity unequalled since the Modernist movement of the 1950s.
Whereas pre-1990s, the elder statesmen of Modernism — KH Ara, SK Bakre, HA Gade and MF Hussein — dominated the subcontinent’s contemporary art world, recent times have seen a new generation of Indian artists, children of a new inter-connected, multi-cultural world, past the trauma of Independence, embracing a rosy future and commemorating a rich cultural tradition. Artists such as Subodh Gupta, his wife Bharti Kher, Jitish Kallat and Atul Dodiyat came to embody the dynamic, progressive outlook that characterised the best in the burgeoning art scene.
But amidst the current global sturm und drang, the Indian art market has suffered a remarkable battering. The days of profligate spending by speculators and investors, buoyed by mirage-like visions of quick profits and huge returns, have brought the market skidding to a halt in line with the powering-down of the economy.
> read full article

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