The auction results of Christie?s New York sale of September 17, 2003, confirm our view that our contemporary art is still a better investment than antiquities. While a large number of antiquities were up for sale (134 lots), no less than 65 lots found no buyers. This represents a figure of 48.5 per cent.

A work by Tyeb Mehta

On the other hand, of the 76 lots up for sale of contemporary art, only 15 lots remained unsold, representing 19.7 per cent of the total. Also, only five of the lots crossed the $100,000 mark (Rs 46 lakh) in the antiquities section, while in the contemporary section too, the number of sales above Rs 46 lakh was the same.

The five works that sold above $100,000 each were two works of Ravi Varma (selling at $119,500 or Rs 54.97 lakh each); a Tyeb Mehta trypitch that also sold at the same price; a work of MF Husain that sold at $107,550 (Rs 49.47 lakh); and a Gaitonde canvas that sold at $101,575 (Rs 46.72 lakh) complete the tally.

Clearly, we can see that the art of independent India, and especially of the Mumbai group, scores above the colonial style of Ravi Varma, accounting for three of the five works that sold at above Rs 46 lakh.

A work of the circle of Ravi Varma and another of Hemendranath Majumdar failed to sell. But this too would be a one-sided assessment as works of the Bengal School and even Jamini Roy were not in the sale, though the single Ganesh Pyne work sold at a price commensurate with that of the Mumbai group.

When one comes down a bit from these, we see that artists like MF Husain, who sold in bulk, emerge as powerful contenders. Husain sold a work for Rs 49.47 lakh and another one from the Mother Teresa series at $95,600 (Rs 43.97 lakh). Other artists who crossed the $50,000 mark were: FN Souza at Rs 24.73 lakh; an Akbar Padamsee canvas at Rs 27.48 lakh; and a Bhupen Khakhar at Rs 30.23 lakh. It is evident from these sales that the Mumbai-Baroda group, which appears to have been consciously promoted by Christie?s, succeeded well enough, even though the sales ranged from a work of SH Raza at Rs 1.65 lakh to a Tyeb Mehta at Rs 46.72 lakh.

From the New York sale (biased though it is towards the Mumbai group), we can observe that MF Husain, VS Gaitonde and Tyeb Mehta score above the others, even of their group.

SH Raza whose expressionist landscape sold for Rs 10.99 lakh, failed to sell two lots, while KH Ara also drew a blank.

Among the artists who made a steady showing were FN Souza, Akbar Padamsee, Ram Kumar and Rameshwar Broota, one of whose works sold at Rs 21.98 lakh.

Also, a Ganesh Pyne tempera on canvas went above the maximum of $20,000 expected for it, selling at $23,900 (Rs 10.99 lakh). Looking at the prices for which Souza, Ram Kumar and Arpita Singh sold, one can say that a stable future for our contemporary art as investment exists and the base is broadening.

If one looks more closely at the prices of works sold at, the VS Gaitonde canvas sold for no less than Rs 481.56 per sq cm, Ganesh Pyne?s tempera at Rs 464.52 per sq cm, Tyeb Mehta at Rs 296.38 per sq cm, MF Husain?s works on average sold at Rs 197 per sq cm, FN Souza at Rs 116 per sq cm and Bhupen Khakhar at Rs 94.62 per sq cm. From this, we can see how investible Indian art ranges between Rs 100 per sq cm to Rs 500 per sq cm. The blue-chip variety ought to cost one between Rs 200 to Rs 500 per sq cm on average for works of quality, while the up and coming would be in the range of between Rs 100 to Rs 200.

This kind of a rule of thumb is important as even the auction houses tend to undervalue works. At the New York sale, no less than 35 works of the 76 lots up for sale went above the highest price expected, some of them being bought up at prices considerably above those expected of them.

This is especially true of the blue chip names, for the others sold within the expected range. This shows that our contemporary art prices are still kept too low and we are more than competitive in the global market.

Many of the works up for sale could well have been marked up by 30 per cent to 60 per cent. This means that once more the price of Indian contemporary art is poised for a jump. So there is every reason for sellers to sell and buyers to buy. In fact, looking at the sales in Delhi, one can say both buyers and sellers have already got the message.