Sunday - Nov 10, 2024
Art Market
South Asian art has finally found a place on the world art programming and auction stage, with investment interest piquing in artworks from the region
By Gauri Kelkar
The year 2005 marked an interesting moment in the world of Indian art. Well-known artist Tyeb Mehta's Mahishasura had defied all presumptive expectations, raking in $1.58 million at a Christie's sale in New York. It was one of the first artworks of South Asian provenance to storm the million-dollar club. It certainly wasn't the last. In 2008, contemporary Indian artist Subodh Gupta's Untitled also grazed past the million-dollar mark. While curiosity, knowledge and appreciation were always there, they rarely manifested in high-value sales. Now, there is a willingness to back interest with money, and that has only increased in these intervening years. Ubiquitous in Sotheby's auctions, MF Husain, SH Raza, FN Souza, Mehta, VS Gaitonde, Akbar Padamsee and Bhupen Khakhar have all gone for over a million dollars.
This steady scaling up has been fed by a liberalised India in the 1990s, shrinking distances in a global world and the explosion of the internet. The result is a nourished awareness of the rich panoply of artists from India and South Asia. Christie's, inaugurating their first-ever international auction in the country in 2013, further tapped into this vault. That it made ₹ 96,59,37,500 ($15.4 million) illustrated expanding interest in Indian artists.
Course Correction
Clearly, South Asian art has arrived on the international scene but many experts believe this was a long time coming, a "market correction" of sorts. As art dealer and advisor Arushi Kapoor told ARTNews, "Historically, in the larger art world, Indian art, Bangladeshi art, and Pakistani art have been severely undervalued."
This 'rebalance' has seen some celebrated artists pulling in staggering prices for their works in the last few years. This spiking interest dovetailed with a proliferation of art galleries with a robust South Asian programme. It also paralleled the growth of an audience beyond the regular crowd of patrons and collectors. First-generation wealth creators now look towards art as a viable investment opportunity. All of this has led to a steadily building ecosystem of new-age collectors with a focus on South Asian art. Furthermore, the turn-of-the-millennium birthing of Saffornart - an India-made, internationally reputed auction house - has boosted the region's art and artistic community.
The Global Gaze
High exposure of South Asian artists at international art fairs, galleries, biennales and other platforms has also played its part. In 2022, the Centre Pompidou in Paris exhibited SH Raza's largest retrospective. Bhupen Khakhar, along with works by 11 other Indian artists, was on display at the 60th Venice Biennale. Celebrated Pakistani artist Rashid Rana participated in 2021 Art Basel, while Faiz Butt's work has made appearances at Art Dubai and Art Hong Kong.
Galleries like the Guggenheim Museum, the Tate Modern and the Museum of Modern Art regularly host South Asian artists. This continuous showcase has run parallel with South Asian art coming up for auctions. Lahore-based Salman Toor spring boarded onto the global stage in December 2022 when his Four Friends garnered $1.2 million,while earlier this year Raza's Kallisté pulled in $5.6 million and FN Souza's The Lovers went under for $4.9 million, all at various auctions.
The price to beat, though, is Amrita Sher-Gil's The Story Teller that sold at auction for a staggering ₹ 61.8 crore ($7.4 million).
Long Road Ahead
These developments are a resounding testimonial to the definitive value - and quality - of art produced by artists from this region. However, there's no denying the yawning gap that exists when such amounts are compared to those international artworks command. Mark Rothko's Untitled work from 1955 selling for $46.4 million in 2023 and Picasso's Femme à la montre going for $139 million point to the steep curve still awaiting South Asian art. That the last two decades have seen such growth, however, is noteworthy. In just the last 10 years, investment in Indian art clocked a 265 times increase in auction turnover. What's clear is that money and interest in art pouring out of the region is here to stay. If The Story Teller's outing is any indication, then South Asian art is in for a fascinating upward trajectory.
