That was only the tip of the iceberg, the grapevine has it. Allegedly, a work stolen from a well-known university collection found its way to that auction and had to be returned when things became too hot. It is also rumoured that a government cultural body had received a promise of a large sum of money for which it covered extensive expenses, but the promise never materialised. The human resource development ministry would do well to enquire into this at once. And of course, most of the buying at the auction was in-house or by its sponsors, taking the few collectors who bid for a ride.

Another such auction is in the offing. As in earlier auctions, when the authenticity of a work attributed to Ravi Varma was called into question or when a work allegedly done by an unknown artist of European origin sold as a Hemen Majumdar, this time too, the artful dodgers are planning to bring new Ram Kinkars to light. Recently, Delhi art dealers have been contacting people likely to send in works to the auction, offering them Ram Kinkars at throwaway prices. Many of the works are transparent fakes.

Others, strangely, are works done by a Calcutta artist who died young, Nikhil Biswas, but signed Ram Kinkar Baij. Also what is amazing is how seemingly casual drawings are signed with impeccable signatures. This was generally not the practice at the time Ram Kinkar was alive. And he, certainly, did not indulge in it unless the signature was accompanied by a note. Generally, such works were merely initialled.

Also, a large quantity of these Ram Kinkar `drawings' has descended on the Capital. Unwitting gallery owners are being enticed to buy these. They are then expected to pass these on to the auction, widening the range of the conspiracy. It is not a plan in all probability, but just the coming together of a trend that has been alive in the art world for long, growing on the basis of a clientele driven by mindless snobbery to go by names and not the quality of the works themselves. So those who choose to indulge in such buying must do so at their peril.

I can expect the usual complement of doubtful works attributed to Ravi Varma, the Tagores, Jamini Roy and, of course, Ram Kinkar. The auctioneers would be well advised to state clearly whether the work is ``signed'' or ``initialled'', ``attributed to'' (stating what criteria the attribution is based on), provenance, or whether the work is ``of the circle of'' or even after the style of a particular artist. I think, for the Bengal School, one could also describe certain works as ``signed in appreciation by'', for the masters often signed their students' good works as a mark of appreciation. And these signed works are now being sold as the works of the masters.

The same holds true for the works signed by Jamini Roy or others among our star artists, but actually executed by assistants and the like. Assistance, whenever used, should be openly acknowledged at sales. This would greatly help in clearing the air, for that is what we need to keep our art market stable. Also, a committee could be appointed to vet works before sales.

I am, however, a little sceptical about such committees, especially where they are paid for by those interested in sales. It would be far better for bidders to appoint their own specialists to vet the works they wish to bid for.

Also, they could rely on their own knowledge of the work of certain artists and not bid for works of artists they are unsure of. Finally, if a work stands firm on its own ground, they could bid for it on gut feeling alone, but judiciously.

The points to remember are: Every artist uses a very definite type of stroke and a peculiar mix of oil and colour, water and colour, or glue and earth colours. This mix matures over time in a particular way. Some artists, like Ram Kinkar, have been avid experimenters, but their choice of this mix is quite predictable. Then the hand of an artist, while executing drawings, has a particular flow. And indeed, the paper artists choose is also worth looking out for. This means that casual works ought generally not to be bid for as investment. And if they are, this should be done judiciously. If the buyer can maintain his cool at an auction, then the artful dodgers can be kept at arm's length as they should.