IT’S RIGHT TIME TO INVEST IN INDIAN ART

The last few years have thrown up a series of record-breaking prices for contemporary Indian art. A painting by Tyeb Mehta sold through Saffron art’s auction in December 2001for $36,000 (Rs 17 Lacs) and came up for sale at Christie’s in March 2004 – it sold for over $101,000(Rs 48 Lacs). With Mahabali MF Husain crossed the $100,000 threshold for the first time, at Christie’s in September 2002. A painting by Raza, Bindu Bija Mantra, sold at Saffron art’s May 2004 auction for almost $170,000 (Rs 79 lacs). The first of Raza’s modern works to cross the $100,000 mark, it was estimated to sell for $55,000-65,000 (Rs 24-28 lacs). And Red Moon by FN Souza, the founder of the progressive Artists group, sold for a record $183,000(Rs 83 lacs) at Saffron art’s December 2004 auction. These episodes are typical of the currently taking place at the top end of the contemporary Indian Art market.
An unprecedented level of trading over the last five years has led to a fundamental shift in the pricing of contemporary Indian art; and it has had a significant impact over a short period of time because much of it has taken place through public auctions. Infact, auction prices for the established Modernists have been increasing since the late 90s, with the last five years witnessing particularly rapid growth. The value of works by artists at the top end of the auction market – including M F Husain, S H Raza, F N Souza, Tyeb Mehta, V S Gaitonde, Ram Kumar, Akbar Padamsee, and J Swaminathan – has increased almost four times between 2000 and 2004. The graph below shows an indexed price growth for this group. There are several factors responsible for this growth. For one, increased media attention and promotionally activity, within India and internationally, has elevated awareness across borders, widening the buyer and collector base. Combined with the galloping success of auctions, this has led to a more transparent market, bolstering public demand for top-quality art at premium prices. This trend will continue as works by select artists, particularly the Progressive Artists’ group and their contemporaries, become increasingly scarce. The overall increase in prices among this group has also had a spillover effect, particularly upon emerging artists, who have both begun to appear at auction as well as receive critical acclaim.
In time, there will be another significant pricing shift as more contemporary artists begin to sell more frequently through auctions. A handful of artists have already begun to appear with increased regularity in public auction over the last three years. Among these are Sudhir Patwardhan, Atul Dodiya, Shibu Natesan, Nataraj Sharma, Chittrovanu Mazumdar, and Baiju Parthan. Price levels for these artists have grown rapidly – over the last five years, they have increased seven fold – as can be seen in the graph below.
A fallout of this structural shift in the market is that prices continue at frequent intervals, making timely information the key to good purchase decisions. Furthermore, compared to Western art markets, which are more coordinated and systematic in terms of galleries in India that exclusively show a single group of artists, and, as such, become established pricing experts for that group. Artists may be represented by as many as four to five galleries within the same region in India. As A result, new buyers (or even seasoned collectors) need periodic references as they browse for their art.

Conclusion: - Boom Time for Indian Contemporary Art

The Indian Contemporary Art has been growing at a breathtaking pace and has now come of age. Over the past few year art collectors and investors, enthused by the superb returns given by most contemporary masters – while many have paid good returns of between 100 and 200 percent, a few gave fabulous 1000 percent returns – have been flocking to these Indian Contemporary Art.
The total business in 2004-05 is approx. INRS.700 crore and in 2005-06 would be approx. INRs.2000 crore. Besides the hefty returns paid by The Indian Contemporary Art, another key factor attracting investors is the buoyant capital markets. The Indian Contemporary Art, according to H.E.Kunwar Pragy Arya, Director, Aryan Art Gallery operates in a strict regulatory environment and confirms to the best international standards.
You should make your investment minimum 3-5yrs for good results. We will make your investment on various artists according our calculation, trend and returns expectations minimum 20% - 40% per annum. We always put our money only on big names and masters. Your money must be on safe and secure hands. We will never breach your trust.