Embracing Art

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><root available-locales="en_US," default-locale="en_US"><static-content language-id="en_US"><![CDATA[My early buys of art remain my favourites ÃÆ'ƒÆ’ÃÆ'†â€™ÃÆ'ƒâ€šÃÆ'‚¢ÃÆ'ƒÆ’ÃÆ'‚¢ÃÆ'ƒÂ¢ÃÆ'¢â€šÂ¬ÃÆ'…¡ÃÆ'ƒâ€šÃÆ'‚¬ÃÆ'ƒÆ’ÃÆ'‚¢ÃÆ'ƒÂ¢ÃÆ'¢â‚¬Å¡ÃÆ'‚¬ÃÆ'ƒâ€šÃÆ'‚ including two works of M.F. Husain (MotherÃÆ'ƒÆ’ÃÆ'†â€™ÃÆ'ƒâ€šÃÆ'‚¢ÃÆ'ƒÆ’ÃÆ'‚¢ÃÆ'ƒÂ¢ÃÆ'¢â€šÂ¬ÃÆ'…¡ÃÆ'ƒâ€šÃÆ'‚¬ÃÆ'ƒÆ’ÃÆ'‚¢ÃÆ'ƒÂ¢ÃÆ'¢â€šÂ¬ÃÆ'…¾ÃÆ'ƒâ€šÃÆ'‚¢s and Matrabhoomi), a signature Manjit Bawa and a Rameshwar Broota, all bought in the 1980s. My interest in collecting art led me to start an art museum (in Noida). The museum, which opened early this year, displays a part of my collection. ItÃÆ'ƒÆ’ÃÆ'†â€™ÃÆ'ƒâ€šÃÆ'‚¢ÃÆ'ƒÆ’ÃÆ'‚¢ÃÆ'ƒÂ¢ÃÆ'¢â€šÂ¬ÃÆ'…¡ÃÆ'ƒâ€šÃÆ'‚¬ÃÆ'ƒÆ’ÃÆ'‚¢ÃÆ'ƒÂ¢ÃÆ'¢â€šÂ¬ÃÆ'…¾ÃÆ'ƒâ€šÃÆ'‚¢s a space where one can come and enjoy some timeless art pieces. In a country that lacks the culture of museums and art, an art museum is essential. I have a total of 200 works of art, all of which I intend to keep with myself. It is the one weakness I have as an art collector ÃÆ'ƒÆ’ÃÆ'†â€™ÃÆ'ƒâ€šÃÆ'‚¢ÃÆ'ƒÆ’ÃÆ'‚¢ÃÆ'ƒÂ¢ÃÆ'¢â€šÂ¬ÃÆ'…¡ÃÆ'ƒâ€šÃÆ'‚¬ÃÆ'ƒÆ’ÃÆ'‚¢ÃÆ'ƒÂ¢ÃÆ'¢â‚¬Å¡ÃÆ'‚¬ÃÆ'ƒâ€šÃÆ'‚ my inability to divest any artwork. My art collection largely consists of works from Indian and sub-continental artists such as Rashid Rana, Shahzia Sikander, Anish Kapoor, Subodh Gupta, and S.H. Raza, among others. Apart from collecting some of the bigger names in art, I chased some of the more unconventional works because I felt an emotional connect with them. Broota, for instance, was an acclaimed artist in the early 1980s, but not really the most saleable one. In that sense, even some of the iconic works that I picked up have been unconventional choices. Amongst the masters, I would like to add Amrita Shergil, Rabindranath Tagore and K.G. Subramanyan to my collection. The bulk of my investments are in moderns and in works of progressive artists. From a collectorÃÆ'ƒÆ’ÃÆ'†â€™ÃÆ'ƒâ€šÃÆ'‚¢ÃÆ'ƒÆ’ÃÆ'‚¢ÃÆ'ƒÂ¢ÃÆ'¢â€šÂ¬ÃÆ'…¡ÃÆ'ƒâ€šÃÆ'‚¬ÃÆ'ƒÆ’ÃÆ'‚¢ÃÆ'ƒÂ¢ÃÆ'¢â€šÂ¬ÃÆ'…¾ÃÆ'ƒâ€šÃÆ'‚¢s point of view, it is a good time to look at contemporary art; for now prices are affordable especially for young collectors. Owing to the recession, contemporary art works lost up to 60-70 per cent of their value. Though the prices are stabilising, especially for the moderns and masters, contemporary art is yet to be back at the strong price point. Progressives and moderns are back at their peak. Before buying a work of art, one should conduct a personal survey of private/commercial art galleries. Photography and sculptures are the other art forms that have picked up over the past few years. They are more affordable and ÃÆ'ƒÆ’ÃÆ'†â€™ÃÆ'ƒâ€šÃÆ'‚¢ÃÆ'ƒÆ’ÃÆ'‚¢ÃÆ'ƒÂ¢ÃÆ'¢â€šÂ¬ÃÆ'…¡ÃÆ'ƒâ€šÃÆ'‚¬ÃÆ'ƒÆ’ÃÆ'¢â‚¬Â¹ÃÆ'ƒâ€¦ÃÆ'¢â‚¬Åâ€Å"inÃÆ'ƒÆ’ÃÆ'†â€™ÃÆ'ƒâ€šÃÆ'‚¢ÃÆ'ƒÆ’ÃÆ'‚¢ÃÆ'ƒÂ¢ÃÆ'¢â€šÂ¬ÃÆ'…¡ÃÆ'ƒâ€šÃÆ'‚¬ÃÆ'ƒÆ’ÃÆ'‚¢ÃÆ'ƒÂ¢ÃÆ'¢â€šÂ¬ÃÆ'…¾ÃÆ'ƒâ€šÃÆ'‚¢ for young art collectors. The likes of Amit Mehra and Raghu Rai, amongst others, make for good additions to a photography collection. Indian art remains a rather small phenomenon. This is despite the fact that India has a lot to offer; there is no shortage of artists, or of good art works. But compared to the world art market, the Indian art market is still new. The global art market stands at $40 billion, whereas the Indian market stands at $500 million. The art market of the US remains the biggest, followed by Europe, with China having overtaken France as the third biggest art market. The reason behind the small size of IndiaÃÆ'ƒÆ’ÃÆ'†â€™ÃÆ'ƒâ€šÃÆ'‚¢ÃÆ'ƒÆ’ÃÆ'‚¢ÃÆ'ƒÂ¢ÃÆ'¢â€šÂ¬ÃÆ'…¡ÃÆ'ƒâ€šÃÆ'‚¬ÃÆ'ƒÆ’ÃÆ'‚¢ÃÆ'ƒÂ¢ÃÆ'¢â€šÂ¬ÃÆ'…¾ÃÆ'ƒâ€šÃÆ'‚¢s art market is that there hasnÃÆ'ƒÆ’ÃÆ'†â€™ÃÆ'ƒâ€šÃÆ'‚¢ÃÆ'ƒÆ’ÃÆ'‚¢ÃÆ'ƒÂ¢ÃÆ'¢â€šÂ¬ÃÆ'…¡ÃÆ'ƒâ€šÃÆ'‚¬ÃÆ'ƒÆ’ÃÆ'‚¢ÃÆ'ƒÂ¢ÃÆ'¢â€šÂ¬ÃÆ'…¾ÃÆ'ƒâ€šÃÆ'‚¢t been, in the true sense, too many large collectors following Indian art. For Indian art to become a global phenomenon, we need more serious collectors. Also, the desire to buy art is very much present in the Indian consumer, but a balanced perception towards art is missing. For instance, the recent auction of RazaÃÆ'ƒÆ’ÃÆ'†â€™ÃÆ'ƒâ€šÃÆ'‚¢ÃÆ'ƒÆ’ÃÆ'‚¢ÃÆ'ƒÂ¢ÃÆ'¢â€šÂ¬ÃÆ'…¡ÃÆ'ƒâ€šÃÆ'‚¬ÃÆ'ƒÆ’ÃÆ'‚¢ÃÆ'ƒÂ¢ÃÆ'¢â€šÂ¬ÃÆ'…¾ÃÆ'ƒâ€šÃÆ'‚¢s Saurashtra at ChristieÃÆ'ƒÆ’ÃÆ'†â€™ÃÆ'ƒâ€šÃÆ'‚¢ÃÆ'ƒÆ’ÃÆ'‚¢ÃÆ'ƒÂ¢ÃÆ'¢â€šÂ¬ÃÆ'…¡ÃÆ'ƒâ€šÃÆ'‚¬ÃÆ'ƒÆ’ÃÆ'‚¢ÃÆ'ƒÂ¢ÃÆ'¢â€šÂ¬ÃÆ'…¾ÃÆ'ƒâ€šÃÆ'‚¢s, which fetched $3,486,965 (Rs 16.42 crore) four months ago, created a furore over the over-estimation of the paintingÃÆ'ƒÆ’ÃÆ'†â€™ÃÆ'ƒâ€šÃÆ'‚¢ÃÆ'ƒÆ’ÃÆ'‚¢ÃÆ'ƒÂ¢ÃÆ'¢â€šÂ¬ÃÆ'…¡ÃÆ'ƒâ€šÃÆ'‚¬ÃÆ'ƒÆ’ÃÆ'‚¢ÃÆ'ƒÂ¢ÃÆ'¢â€šÂ¬ÃÆ'…¾ÃÆ'ƒâ€šÃÆ'‚¢s price. Not everyone has the sensibility to buy art either. One should view investment in art like that in shares or mutual funds. One must realise that you can have a work of art as a great asset to display, and maybe ten years down the line it will give the same return as a property or piece of jewellery would give over time. The sad part is that even among the Indian diaspora, there is very little interest in art. In India, people need to develop a better perception of art. Perhaps, collective efforts of corporate houses as well as of independent art collectors can make a lot of difference. (This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 27-09-2010)