Market readies for 'informed' faith in contemporary art

The category of 'modern masters' of Indian art refers to those senior painters who attained their peak approximately between 1950s-80s. Most of them have passed on and the surviving few are in their 90s. The 'contemporaries', on the other hand, are the younger generation of artists. This group includes all artists from fresh art graduates to those in their 50s

In a market dominated by modern masters such as F N Souza, S H Raza, M F Husain and their contemporaries, young guns like Subodh Gupta, Atul Dodiya, Bose Krishnamachari, Bharti Kher, Jitish Kallat, T V Santosh, Thukral and Tagra, and Jagannath Panda to name a few, had begun to fetch record breaking prices. Suddenly, there was unprecedented buzz in the contemporary segment of Indian art

More than a decade ago, before the 2008 collapse of the Lehmann Brothers triggered global economic recession, Indian contemporary art had begun to scale a peak that will remain an important landmark in the history of Indian art at auctions.

In a market dominated by modern masters such as F N Souza, S H Raza, M F Husain and their contemporaries, young guns like Subodh Gupta, Atul Dodiya, Bose Krishnamachari, Bharti Kher, Jitish Kallat, T V Santosh, Thukral and Tagra, and Jagannath Panda to name a few, had begun to fetch record breaking prices. Suddenly, there was unprecedented buzz in the contemporary segment of Indian art. (For those not clued in, the category of 'modern masters' of Indian art refers to those senior painters who attained their peak approximately between 1950s-80s. Most of them have passed on and the surviving few are in their 90s. The 'contemporaries', on the other hand, are the younger generation of artists. This group includes all artists from fresh art graduates to those in their 50s.)

Sky-rocketing prices and course correction

Subodh Gupta is the most famous of all contemporary Indian artists. He is also the most successful, commercially and critically. To take his example, the prices of his art works touched the sky in 2008, achieving a peak that has not been seen by any of his stellar works since, despite fetching good enough prices for a market on the correctional course. Though known for his mammoth installations made of stainless steel utensils - the most famous being the installation Very Hungry God (2006) that has been exhibited at Venice Biennale, Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art, Monnaie de Paris, and other prominent venues - his oil on canvas, One Cow (2003) sold for $866,500 (approx. Rs 6.4 crore) at a 2008 auction at Sotheby's. Quite a few of his works fetched similar prices at various other auctions in 2008. Another of his oils, Saat Samunder Paar VII (2003), sold at a Sotheby's auction in 2008 for $825,000 (approx. Rs 6.1 crore).

When the global economic recession set in, Indian art market too went in for course correction. Speculators went out, and so did the sky-rocketing prices of contemporary art, which was suddenly dropped like a hot potato by serious collectors and investors, who chose to play safe with the time-tested and proven modern masters. Many contemporary works of Indian art have sold at impressive prices in auctions since 2008 but none have thrown up results like the sales in and before that marker year.

AstaGuru's contemporary only auction

It is in this backdrop that the upcoming online auction, Present Future, by AstaGuru on February 10-11, assumes significance. An auction dedicated to contemporary art alone is a definite indicator of the growing confidence of the market in this segment of Indian art. One of the largest contemporary art auctions ever held in India, it will feature 115 works - paintings, drawings, sculptures, installations, mixed media works - by 83 artists.

It is led by a stainless steel installation by Subodh Gupta, estimated between Rs 1.3 crore and Rs 1.5 crore. Another of his works, an oil on canvas from his Idol Thief series, is estimated between Rs 1.08 crore and Rs 1.44 crore.

Another important highlight of the auction are two works by Bharti Kher (also Gupta's wife). Both are in her signature style of the use of 'bindi', the paste-it dot in various colours (though primarily red) that Indian women use on their foreheads as a means of adornment. 'Bindi' abstract works are for Kher what stainless steel installations are for Gupta.

Both the 'bindi' works on offer, one made in 2013 and the other in 2015, are estimated between Rs 60 lakh and Rs 80 lakh. Kher's signature works continue to do well in the market, the proof of which is the 2021 sale of one such work, titled Lost and Found, for $88,200 (approx. Rs 65 lakh).

In a stellar line-up, works by almost all the other top contemporary Indian artists are being offered in the AstaGuru auction. The estimates appear to be realistic, and definitely not as fantastic as the 2008 levels. Realistic prices for the best and signature works of the artists point to a new level of maturity of the Indian art market, which sets it for a healthy, organic growth in the future.

Besides Gupta and Kher, a Raqib Shaw mixed media work is one of the few whose estimates are up north. Titled Henry VIII, Shaw's work in acrylic, glitter, enamel and rhinestones is estimated between Rs 40 lakh and Rs 60 lakh. Known for his busily-populated works with fantastical imagery, Shaw is a London-based Indian artist.

Signature works by TV Santhosh, Thukral and Tagra, Bose Krishnamachari, Riyas Komu, G R Iranna, Jitish Kallat, Chintan Upadhyay, Jagannath Panda, Subba Ghosh, Nataraj Sharma and Rekha Rodwittiya, to name some, make it an interesting auction to look forward too.

The price points at which the works by these artists are available would be of interest to any serious collector as these are the Razas, Souzas and Gaitondes of future.

Precipice, a Subba Ghosh sculpture in fiberglass and metal of an ageing woman sitting bent on a stool and brooding, is estimated between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 6 lakh. An Untitled acrylic on canvas from the Stretched Bodies series by Bose Krishnamachari, the co-founder of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, is estimated between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 3 lakh. The reclusive T V Santhosh's signature work, an Untitled oil on canvas with neon highlights, too is estimated between Rs 3 lakh and Rs 4 lakh.

There's representation of top contemporary names from neighbouring countries too. The most famous contemporary artist of Pakistan, Rashid Rana, is represented by his work, Copyright Violation of a Stock-Photo (Polyptych), estimated between Rs 25 lakh and Rs 30 lakh. Imran Qureshi and Nusra Latif Qureshi are the other Pakistani artists featuring in the auction.

There are two works by the well-known Bangladeshi artist Shahabuddin Ahmed, and one work by senior Sri Lankan artist Senaka Senanayake. One of the earliest contemporary only auctions in 2022, the results of this sale would likely give us an idea of the trajectory that the works by contemporary artists will take in the years to come.

(The writer is a New Delhi-based editor, writer and arts consultant. She blogs at www.archanakhareghose.com)