Second-rung artists climbing the charts
The art market may be seeing subtle changes of late. While the recent auctions could have seen a drop in the number of lots sold, an interesting feature is that a clutch of artists, who are seen to be second-line pricewise, have scaled new highs i...
By Ashoke Nag, TNN |
KOLKATA: The art market may be seeing subtle changes of late. While the recent auctions could have seen a drop in the number of lots sold, an interesting feature is that a clutch of artists, who are seen to be second-line pricewise, have scaled new highs in terms of values at various auctions both in the domestic as well as the international circuit this year, till now. This probably signifies a broadening of the perspective of bidders and of the art scene as a whole.
“Although sales volumes in terms of lots might have come down, one has witnessed a number of records being achieved by artists who are underpriced. Together with the senior names, some of the younger contemporary artists have also climbed to higher levels. This is certainly underscoring a reassessment of the market by buyers, including investors and collectors,” an art market source told ET. “This also shows that the market is adding new dimensions ,” the source added.
A look at the lowdown of artists who have hit individual records at different auctions will drive home the shifting shades in the art scenario. N S Bendre walked away with $168,000 at the 2007 March auction of Sotheby’s in New York. In the same auction, K K Hebbar sold for $216,000 and K S Kulkarni $43,200. Taking the run of records forward, Jamini Roy recorded an all-time personal best at $179,000 at Bonhams in May 2007.
The excitement whipped up by artists, many of whom have been overlooked often, continued with Abanindranath Tagore swinging $31,200 at Sotheby’s in the March auction this year in New York, Hemen Mazumdar struck $90,000 at Christie’s in March 2007 and Jogesh Chandra Seal found a price tag of $36,000 in the Christie’s sale of March 2007.
These landmarks gathered more steam with Atul Dodiya touching $399,000 in the May 2007 sale of Christie’s in Hong Kong, while Jagdish Swaminathan went under the hammer for $312,000 at the Christie’s sale in March 2007.
On the domestic front, A R Chughtai reached an all-time high of Rs 1.68 crore and Manjit Bawa Rs 1.32 crore and Satish Gujral Rs 1.02 crore in the Osian’s auction of January 2007. Osian’s also saw the indomitable V S Gaitonde being lapped up for a whopping Rs 5.1 crore in the Osian’s sale in July 2007. Sales by the same auction house witnessed Sailoz Mukherjee going for Rs 19.8 lakh, Kshitan Mazumdar for Rs 21.6 lakh and G M Sheikh at Rs 96 lakh.
Even first-timers in the auction scene like Jaya Ganguly and Partha Pratim Deb drew buyers at $18,000 and $9,600 at a Sotheby’s sale in New York in July 2007.
“Not only are some of the senior artists being evaluated afresh by collectors, there are still lot of high quality artists available at relatively affordable prices. These painters are gaining pace now together with young contemporaries. We can expect that a wider spread of artists including the early labels, senior modernists who were lying low and the contemporary pack will see taller prices in 2008-09 and beyond,” the source said.
“Although sales volumes in terms of lots might have come down, one has witnessed a number of records being achieved by artists who are underpriced. Together with the senior names, some of the younger contemporary artists have also climbed to higher levels. This is certainly underscoring a reassessment of the market by buyers, including investors and collectors,” an art market source told ET. “This also shows that the market is adding new dimensions ,” the source added.
A look at the lowdown of artists who have hit individual records at different auctions will drive home the shifting shades in the art scenario. N S Bendre walked away with $168,000 at the 2007 March auction of Sotheby’s in New York. In the same auction, K K Hebbar sold for $216,000 and K S Kulkarni $43,200. Taking the run of records forward, Jamini Roy recorded an all-time personal best at $179,000 at Bonhams in May 2007.
The excitement whipped up by artists, many of whom have been overlooked often, continued with Abanindranath Tagore swinging $31,200 at Sotheby’s in the March auction this year in New York, Hemen Mazumdar struck $90,000 at Christie’s in March 2007 and Jogesh Chandra Seal found a price tag of $36,000 in the Christie’s sale of March 2007.
These landmarks gathered more steam with Atul Dodiya touching $399,000 in the May 2007 sale of Christie’s in Hong Kong, while Jagdish Swaminathan went under the hammer for $312,000 at the Christie’s sale in March 2007.
On the domestic front, A R Chughtai reached an all-time high of Rs 1.68 crore and Manjit Bawa Rs 1.32 crore and Satish Gujral Rs 1.02 crore in the Osian’s auction of January 2007. Osian’s also saw the indomitable V S Gaitonde being lapped up for a whopping Rs 5.1 crore in the Osian’s sale in July 2007. Sales by the same auction house witnessed Sailoz Mukherjee going for Rs 19.8 lakh, Kshitan Mazumdar for Rs 21.6 lakh and G M Sheikh at Rs 96 lakh.
Even first-timers in the auction scene like Jaya Ganguly and Partha Pratim Deb drew buyers at $18,000 and $9,600 at a Sotheby’s sale in New York in July 2007.
“Not only are some of the senior artists being evaluated afresh by collectors, there are still lot of high quality artists available at relatively affordable prices. These painters are gaining pace now together with young contemporaries. We can expect that a wider spread of artists including the early labels, senior modernists who were lying low and the contemporary pack will see taller prices in 2008-09 and beyond,” the source said.
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