The results of the Saffronart.com online auction of December 6-8 show one that despite the splurge in the share market, art is not losing its value as investment. No less than 27 of the works, of a total of 200 lots, sold at above Rs 50 lakh each. Of these, 11 crossed the Rs 1-crore mark.
Of these, four works of F N Souza went at above Rs 1 crore. His Lovers (lot 44) sold at Rs 65,388,400. This painting, at nearly $ 1.5 million was the highest priced work to sell at the auction, His Crucifixion (lot 50) sold for Rs 27,394,400. The Tortured Indian Women (lot 42) sold at Rs 12,826,000, while Valdemosa (lot 47) sold at Rs 10,285,000. Souza obviously sells at higher price than most, and deservedly so.
Two other artists S H Raza and Akbar Padamsee, managed to sell two works each above Rs 1 crore, while M F Husain, Tyeb Mehta and Ram Kumar had one work each that went above the Rs 1-crore mark. This shows us that the global taste in Indian art veers towards the most radical expression of it, for Souza’s art is so irreverent that it was once considered obscene by the collectors of pretty pictures. Today his uncompromising and far from decorative works, but executed with a masterly hand that gives each stroke, line and dab of colour a pulsating life of its own appear to be the most wanted of our contemporary art objects today.
The above Rs 50 lakh mark works are from a broader range. The includes four works of M F Husain, two each of S H Raza, Ram Kumar and J Swaminathan, and one each of B Prabha, Ganesh Pyne, Jogen Choudhury, Rameshwar Broota and Krishen Khanna. This gives us a good idea of where Indian blue-chip art stands today in terms of price. It ranges from about Rs 50 lakh and above to well over Rs 1 crore (from $100,000-1,000,000). Among artists in this range, Husain appears still to be the best bet although the price of good works of Souza soars high. Mehta scores well above the average Husain, but there are few works to be had, so he provides a better field for the collector rather than the investor.
The artists whose demand is rising now are Raza, Madame and Kumar, all three of them figuring in the above Rs 1 crore mark as well as the above Rs 50 lakh bracket. This means that the blue chip investment bracket could be seen to be made up of Souza, Husain, Raza, Mehta, Padamsee and Kumar. That is today enough number of works of theirs are in the market for bidding and their secondary sales are assured. For nothing is worth investing in if it does not appreciate over time and when resold does not have ready buyers.
At the same time, to function as a barometer of the market, as Husain does for our contemporary art today, the artist should have produced enough works to satisfy and egg on a growing demand. Art as investment is not the sort that dries up with a few sales or with a few stockists taking it over completely. The availability of works is essential for them to be considered worth investing in.
The Aryan Art Gallery is exhibiting SH Raza in Hong Kong, Akbar Padamsee is being exhibited at Alliance Fran?oise in Delhi, Souza, Husain and Ram Kumar too are accessible in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. But every investor must make certain the works are genuine and come with a guarantee the works will be bought back by the gallery if proved to be takes.