Sudhanshu Sutar
The consecutive three quarters of economic recession has hit the Indian art market badly and artists, collectors and galleries are groping for newer strategies in the coming years.
One of the reasons for the phenomenal rise in art prices during the last few years had been the emergence of the expatriate Indian community abroad who were investing in Indian art. Galleries and artists were ever eager to cater to the needs of this community and accordingly the three years between 2005 and 2007 had seen a steep rise in production of art works.
Experts had always been suggesting that this phenomenal rise in prices and the commensurate large scale production of art works was not sustainable. Now that the economy is on a downswing, there is suddenly a glut in the art market. Artists whose prices rose the most are hit he worst now. Galleries and collectors who were holding their art works are not likely to realize the full value of these works in the next one to years. Clearly this is not a time in India to sell.
Nonetheless experts say that this the best time to buy. Though Christies’ and Sothebys’ have cancelled all the auctions of Indian art for the entire 2009, they have not closed down their offices and seems to be acquiring newer works which would be sold later when the market firms up. Borubudur Auction House and Siddhartha Auctioneer which specialize in Asian art are also traveling in India to spot the next big name.
So who are the artists of future? One artist whose name seems to be ringing is Sudhanshu Sutar whose show in early 1996 in Japan had gone ignored in India. But now there is a demand for the artist’s works in Asian market. Dhananjay Sing is a sculptor who remained mostly aloof from the Indian market but was working successfully in Australia. Arunanshu Chowdhuri is another likely contender for the top slot in coming years. He had been a recipient of Greenshields Foundation Grant way back in 1995 and yet his art career did not take off well all these days. Another artist who has acquired laurels abroad in recent years is Devajyoti Ray. Cuban National Museum of Fine Arts has acquired a work of Ray. According to Charles Saatchi, Ray’s new style of art called Pseudorealism is an original new genre of art in India. It is likely to emerge as the next big thing in world art. Among the other emerging artists whose art works are still available at affordable prices are Shakila, Farhad Husain and Suresh Dhamani.
