Southern splash

KOLKATA: South-based artists are hitting the scene. With prices of quite a few artists from Mumbai, Delhi, Baroda and Kolkata going beyond reach, collectors and investors are gradually shifting their focus to South Indian artists. In the last 2-3 years, artists from this region have seen a huge price appreciation ranging anywhere between twice the price to 10-fold.

“That is not to say that the Cholamandalam artists and others from Kerala and Bangalore had not created an impact earlier. In fact, some of them could have been as important as the Bengal School masters. Their role in establishing Indian contemporary art in the South is unmistakable.

Such artists include KCS Panicker, Ramanujan, Redappa Naidu, Stapathy, Jankiram and Dhanpal Bhagat. Despite the presence of the British, these artists strived to create an Indian idiom,” an art market source told ET. “Of course, one can’t forget the major 19th century South painter Raja Ravi Verma.”

In the contemporary scene, names from the Cholamandalam school who are standing out are Adimoolam, Douglas, Viswanadhan, Achutan, Pallaniappan and Nandgopal. In step, there are also artists from backgrounds other than the Cholamandalam stream. This embraces names such as Laxma Goud, Ravinder Reddy, Vaikuntam, Rimzon, Vasudev and Senathipaty.

“Earlier, art collectors found it extremely important to add works by southern artists to their stocks. Without them, a collection was seen as being incomplete. Then, in the ’90s, the interest dropped and South artists were at a low ebb in the whole art scene.

Now, there is a renewed focus on this brand of painters and sculptors. Their works are being collected across the country. We are also seeing shows featuring South artists within India and overseas. The overseas exhibits spread across places like London, Paris, Singapore and Dubai,” the source said.

Citing instances of the nature of price appreciation that some artists have enjoyed, the source said that Adimoolam has gone up four-five times in the last three years or so. At the same time, Nandgopal’s sculptures have doubled in the last one year.

In the same breath, Vaikuntam has risen four-five fold in the last two-three years, while Viswanadhan has appreciated five times in three years. The older artists like Panicker, Redappa Naidu and Ramanujan have witnessed huge increases ranging up to 10 times, the source said.

“Despite the price rises, one feels that South-based artists are still to sport optimum price levels. They are already of high quality. It won’t be long before these artists rub shoulders with names from other regions as highly investible artworks,” the source said.