Our contemporary art as we know it today grew out of a rejection of the imperial vision. It brought out the horrors of war and the basically anti-human nature of conquest and colonial rule was highlighted. An era of peace, global solidarity and progress was extolled. So the contemporary artist became a symbol of the global humanist. Even if the world was divided into countries, the contemporary artist, using the concrete inspiration of time and place, sought out the universal themes in them. This capacity to be meaningful beyond one?s time is what constitutes the best investment in art.
It is not necessary that an artist paints something that looks like something in the world outside. The artist has to create that something. That is why illustrative art ranks below independent visual creation. This is also the reason why Mughal miniature art is more sought out than drawings in illuminated manuscripts of other sorts. The Mughal miniature, and those of many provincial styles descended from it, is a visual document said to have come to its peak as the Emperor Akbar suffered from dyslexia and needed visual narratives instead of books. The same was true of the unlettered or semi-literate Zamindars and adventurers who rose to power in the 18th century.
The result was the emergence of an independent form of art that rose above the illuminated manuscript and was a fore-runner of our present-day narrative art. It is not accidental that narrative artists like MF Husain, KG Subramanyan, Arpana Caur, Arpita Singh and many others have used the miniature format and composition in large canvases of contemporary narrative art. This break from the illustrative tradition and evolution of the visual narrative which was both complete in itself and an independent art form gives our miniature art its originality and value. This quality of the late medieval miniatures of India makes them distinct from mere illustrations. As a result, they are worth investing in. Then there are Kalighat paintings, Banaras paintings, Punjab art and Patna art of the mid-19th and early 20th century. All these represent a break from the past but not an abandonment of our tradition. It is not hand-me-down art, so it makes a good investment.
Three elements give these art types their importance. First and foremost they rise above the illustrative. And they are works that embody genuine artistic merit. Secondly, as narratives they are part of the lively debates going on in their times and an expression of the artist?s views on the subject. Thirdly, the views themselves are of a common man or concern him directly for which elements of a folk style are ideal.
These three elements: being part of an original, and yet indigenous tradition, being sharply perceptive of life and events around one, and finally, being easy to understand visually, gives them the quality of surviving the present and catapulting them into the future. That is why they are good investments.
These art types bring us to contemporary art, with which they share many characteristics. However, contemporary art differs from them by being anti-imperialist, anti-bureaucratic, and against the archaic expression of the old Zamindars with a touch of street-smart confidence that was building up with the national movement. It is this quality that puts Jamini Roy, Rabindranath Tagore, Gaganendranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose and Ram Kinkar Baij above so many of their contemporaries.
But the investor also sees where they are going. This is what raises the price of a Souza in comparison to many other artists of his time. Till the end of his life, he never compromised. Others like Somnath Hore, Chitta Prasad, Kamarul Hasan, Zainul Abedin, MF Husain, SH Raza and Tyeb Mehta, bring up the force to make this a movement a trend. Perhaps the most aesthetic and profound among them was Gaitonde who was able to blend both the surface and depth perfectly. That is why even when people are never tired of saying they do not understand abstract art, they still pay the price they do for a work of his. Those who understand this aspect of an artist?s tryst with the future, understand what investment in art is about.