The launch of Bowring?s, the first Indian auction house to make an attempt to stand up to the global ones, Sotheby?s and Christie?s, was a welcome event. Unfortunately, its very first auction got stymied with accusations of selling fakes and allegedly stolen property. A well-known Kolkata dealer even did time in jail as a result of the furore that was let loose.

This time, for its sale in Mumbai, the auction house has chosen to tread a safer path. The forthcoming auction, slated for March 21 in Mumbai, reflects a definite urge to sell?even if it means compromising on standards. The eminently saleable artists are all there. M F Husain, Ganesh Pyne, Anjolie Ela Menon, F N Souza, S H Raza, N S Benare and V S Gaitonde are all very visible. So is Jamini Roy. Of the Bengal artists, Gaganendranath and Abanindranath Tagore, Sarada Ukil, Nandlal Bose and Sarbari Roy Choudhury are up front. And there are Chugtais to follow. Of the various brands of radical artists, we have Somenath Hore, Vivan Sundaram, Nikhil Biswas and Kanchan Dasgupta. Of the young trend-setters for Mumbai, we have Atul Dodiya, Krishnamachari Bose and Jitish Kallat. There are accomplished stylists such as Jehangir Sabavala, Shakti Burman, Prabhakar Barwe and Krishan Khanna. There are the ?horses? of Sunil Das and the landscapes of Paramjit Singh. Then there are the cult figures of yesteryears such as B Vithal, B Prabha, Rameshwar Broota and Manu Parekh. An excellent sales line, had the auctions stuck to it and not included a lot of bric-a-brac.

But they seem not to be able to stop at a good thing. They don?t want to miss anyone, even buyers of kitsch. They have chosen to dilute some very good originals with prints of Salvador Dali, whose works cannot possibly qualify as ?contemporary Indian art? by any stretch of the imagination. The same goes for the Daniells, Rowland Green, Stella Brown, Waltar Langhammer or the art deco works of Stefan Norblin. The only works that qualify are those of Nicholas Roerich, who made India his home and whose art influenced a whole trend among our contemporary painters.

While many of these works are good to look at, they do not constitute contemporary Indian art for the purpose of either collection or investment. But they do have a market abroad and some works of these artists could possibly be picked up at prices less than those quoted in London and New York. But that applies to the works of Dali and the Daniells. The others, while definitely good to buy as decorations, do not have much investment value.

The pricing, too, is a little more modest than last time. An Abanindranath head for Rs 75,000 to Rs 1 lakh, a Nandalal landscape for Rs 60,000-80,000; a Jamini Roy study of a deer scratching its ear for Rs 50,000-70,000; Nikhil Biswas? watercolour, At The Races for Rs 25,000-30,000; Jehangir Sabavala?s The Flight Into Egypt for Rs 7-10 lakh; Bhabesh Sanyal?s Seated Woman for Rs 1.8-2.2 lakh; Raza?s Temple for Rs 3-4 lakh; M F Husain?s Shakti for Rs 7-9 lakh; N S Bendra?s Fishermen At Versova for Rs 2-2.5 lakh, Anjolie Ela Menon?s canvas of the ?Crow? series for Rs 7-9 lakh; G R Santosh?s untitled oil on canvas for Rs 40,000-60,000; Sunil Das? horse for Rs 30,000-40,000; Vivan Sundaram?s Fisherwomen Of Bombay for Rs 7-9 lakh; Prafulla Mohanti?s watercolour on card for Rs 30,000-40,000; Krishen Khanna?s Bandmaster Ramjidas Composing for Rs 3-4 lakh; a pastel of a woman by Ganesh Pyne for Rs 2-3 lakh; a still life with a skull by Souza for Rs 3-4 lakh; a watercolour by Somnath Hore for Rs 90,000-1,10,000; Kanchan Das? oil on canvas, Awaiting, for Rs 1-1.2 lakh, and Dhruva Mistry?s sculpture, Mother And Child, for Rs 2-2.5 lakh, are all worth investing in.

It is obvious that the prices are not on an even keel. They vary considerably, so the buyer must bid with his eyes open. The same goes for authenticity. The buyer has to be sure of authenticity as our system of authentication is not sufficient to inspire confidence. Even so, while the Bowring?s forthcoming auction is a not very inspiring mixed bag, there are works worth bidding for.