Leafing through the Christie?s catalogue of its New York sale of September 2000, I found that lot 32, a red sandstone stele of Uma Maheswara 102.2 cm high dating back to the 11th century, from Rajasthan, sold well above its expected price of $35,000 (Rs 16.80 lakh) for $47,000 (Rs 22.56 lakh). It turns out to be one of the stolen works allegedly passed on to the auction house by the Jaipur dealer Vaman Narain Ghia.

The work is a well-executed piece and it went for a good price. But now it is caught up in a controversy. There will be a court case and the buyer will lose the work. If the buyer is an investor, it will be money tied up without a return. Surely, a better investment avenue ought to be sought out.

A 20th century NS Bendre’s work ?The Family?

It is there, if only we look at the same catalogue?s section on Indian contemporary art. NS Bendre?s acrylic on canvas (91.5 cm x 152.5 cm) ?The Family? (lot 312) sold for no less than $30550 (Rs 14.66 lakh) and Anjolie Ela Menon?s works (lots 313 and 314) sold at $17625 (Rs 6.46 lakh).

They were an oil on canvas (178.5 cm x 82 cm) and an oil on masonite (122 cm x 61 cm). SH Raza?s acrylic on canvas, lot 334, (119.5 cm x 119.5 cm) sold for $16450 (Rs 7.86 lakh); three of Husain?s oils on canvas, lots 293, 294 and 295, sold at $12925 each (Rs 6.20 lakh); an Akbar Padamsee oil on canvas (lot 308) sold at $15275 (Rs 7.33 lakh) equalling a Tyeb Mehta oil on canvas (lot 307), while a VS Gaitonde work (127cm x 101.5 cm) sold for no less than $30,550 (Rs 14.66 lakh). Most of these too, sold above the highest price expected for them.

When we look at the time scale from production to sale of the antique sculpture that sold at an exceptionally high price and the paintings of contemporary artists, it is evident that the rate of appreciation of price is much higher for contemporary art than for antiquities. Then why are antiques traded as they are?

The 11th century Uma Maheswara allegedly stolen from Rajasthan

Of course, if theft is considered all right, then one can see a similar return from antiquities; but even then, the risk factor is considerably more in buying and selling of antiques than in contemporary art.

But what does the antique lover seek when he or she buys an antique? It is a search for rarity essentially.

This could be ensured in the case of contemporary art by artists refusing to repeat their work. At the same time, they could check mediocre works of theirs going into the open market. Originality could be stressed much more.

Finally, a serious effort can be made to ensure that the materials used are long-lasting and do not require restoration too often.

If contemporary artists take care of these points, there is every reason for the art market, and certainly for art investment, to take a turn for the better. Also, for the investor too, investing in contemporary art involves far less harassment, better returns and far fewer problems of bureaucratic interference and red tape.

As such, it is infinitely better investment than antiquities.

The most satisfying thing about investing in contemporary art, of course, is that it is a creative investment. It is investment in production. When an investor invests in contemporary art, the artist is encouraged to produce more work.

Here too, the producer can ensure that the value-addition process improves with each work. Often a successful artist tends to follow market trends by reproducing images that sell.

This, in effect, reduces the value-addition with each new work and can even affect the general sales of an artist in the long run.

It is far better for an artist to create new images and original compositions each time, not only benefiting from the value added to each work, but also by accreting value to his or her work alone.

This approach to originality is far better than simply producing less work and pricing it higher, for it does not always work effectively as originality does.

As for galleries, they ought to store images of all works sold by them systematically. They ought to document each artist they stock properly and allow access to their files so that critics can assess the historical importance of each artist for the public much more precisely than we do today. If all of us take our responsibility to develop our contemporary art market seriously, we will to be able to save our heritage from tomb robbers and temple plunderers.