Now, why this post ? the main reason is that like all other asset classes even Indian art like Russian art has gone through the roof. So when everything in a market moves, insignificant works by contemporary artists also go through the roof as no one wants to miss out, studio assistants for some of the real big names start churning out more works, art dealers and galleries join in and start marking up the prices. More than the galleries, artists start thinking that they are really worth much more. Then there is a market crash and values sometimes become realistic but most of the people especially the one who have just arrived on the scene and also some of the older ones who never really made it refuse to accept market realities. So here are some of the key pointers to buying Indian contemporary art from artists who have never been in an international auction or do not have a price record history....
- Pricing record - Let us assume you walk into an art show at one of the galleries or a friend reaches out to you and tells you that you should really buy this art work, do you take an instinctive decision or you look at some of the data before you buy ? The problem is that there is no pricing logic in the works of younger artists, I went to a show recently and saw this nice work which was 8 feet by 8 feet and the artist expected 12 lacs for the work, no pricing history, huge work but who do you sell it to later ? That is the problem, according to me the artist should have priced it at 3-4 lacs but here his price was 300 % above that and all he has to his credit is one international art show with a gallery that does not matter.
- Artist Biography- Do go through in great detail on the artist biography, which college, which awards,which shows and which gallery is promoting the artist ? I went to India Habitat Centre for a Shiv Varma show, why did I go ? He has won the Kashi award and also the IHC-Art India award, so two major awards, his forte is sculpture but I loved a huge canvas which was 6 ft by 6ft and I was told that the price is 2.5 lacs which may look reasonable considering the size but his forte has always been sculpture. I liked the work but the value threshold was being crossed and so I offered a price of 2 lacs, the logic being if an artist has just come on the scene and even won some awards, the price for a new contemporary artist according to me should be in the range of 3,000 to 6,000 per square feet depending on the artist biography. Art purists may scoff at my financial transaction approach but it helps people not getting fleeced when buying art. I see artists with no background charging 15,000 to 25,000 sq ft for a painting and like many people I know, you would have a nice work of art but no investment value. Also, the younger lot is really getting carried away, they are not looking at who is collecting them and are just interested in the financial transaction at ridiculous values.
- Initiative - Every couple of months, I get an email from Thukral & Tagra and Seher Shah, as to what is their next show and where are they showing next whether in India or abroad, gallery, Art fairs or museums. This gives me comfort as an art collector and also assures me that maybe I have taken the right decision, I only buy when I like the work, this just re assures me more. It is also a lovely touch by the artists to keep in touch with people who are collecting their art, even in these tough times its quite tough to get a T&T canvas but they still continue with this information.The buying process does not get over with the sale closure but you become part of a collector circle. All artists like these will weather this downturn better than our other friends who have not bothered to update their existing collectors of what is happening next.
- Number of Artworks - This is another critical point, younger artists and even the top contemporary league are quite prolific, the logic last year was to make hay while the sun shines, today, values have fallen to 20 % of what the values were a year back and this is the real top league, talented but over producing. Atul Dodiya, an excellent artist by any standard showed 40 watercolours at the Bodhi show in Mumbai last year and had scores of prints in edition of 20 from STPI in Singapore also. The market just does not have enough collectors to absorb such numbers and his market crashed. Everyone who had a Subodh Gupta canvas just started putting all the works in auctions and the price crashed from 5 crores to 80 lacs and there is still enough works in the market which has more to do with art dealers ( on a personal level, Subodh is the most talented and the most humble numero uno artist you will ever meet ). Thukral & Tagra and TV Santosh have been better in this regard as they did not produce that much and are slow in getting works out of the studio, so they are safe but if you got carried away in the boom and bought a TV Santosh at 80 lacs and T&T at 60-65 lacs then you have still lost 50 % but again buying at the right price is the key. Give me a good TV Santosh canvas on terror at 20-25 lacs and I am a buyer !
Well, these are some of the points you should look at, both exhibitions that I attended last week were overpriced and I don't think would have sold more than 2-3 out of the 20 odd works.That will be art you love but please don't spend your money on something that gives you joy but no appreciation because of illogical pricing !
Cheers and till my next post !
Kapil Chopra
Posts
