Art-felt advice

So you have a budget of Rs 10 lakh for art but don't know what to buy? Worry not, the author asks five experts to put together a collection for you

Kishore Singh
(Publication and exhibition head, Delhi Art Gallery)

Rs 10 lakh is neither too little nor too much should one have to bag a selection of art. In the year of M F Husain's 100 birth anniversary, I would begin with something by which to commemorate India's best-known master - perhaps with a serigraph of his Mother Teresa series, which are currently available, signed, dated and edition numbered, for about Rs 2 lakh (On the other hand, I might just pick a set of black-and-white nudes by Akbar Padamsee at Rs 1 lakh apiece). I would then look to see how to acquire a piece of the iconoclastic F N Souza, whose drawings are available at Delhi and Mumbai galleries. Be prepared for the shocked reactions of your family and friends (and domestic staff) - this one's definitely a conversation starter at Rs 2-3 lakh. There are some seniors whose works you must own, artists whose brushstrokes are recognisable among the philistine hoi-polloi. These include Krishen Khanna (a 12" x 12" Bandwallah), a small Anjolie Ela Menon head, a Manu Parekh acrylic on canvas of a Banaras scene, or a small Paresh Maity watercolour at Rs 3-4 lakh, following some sharp bargaining, or lucky bidding at auctions. You can't have only paintings as art, so I'd pitch for a tiny sculpture of K S Radhakrishnan's Musui or Maiya figurines for Rs 1.5 lakh. And, finally, to acknowledge that we owe the knowledge to appreciate art to the goddess of learning, I'd pitch for a dressed oleograph of Saraswati from Saffronart, priced at Rs 40,000. Rs 10 lakh gone - whoosh!

Roshini Vadehra
(Director, Vadehra Art Gallery )

There is a range of works that can be purchased for Rs 10 lakh - from paintings, sculptures, installations to photographs. All contemporary artists make scaled-down versions of edition works. The market for these versions is good as they represent a comfortable budget for new and seasoned collectors who wish to add slowly to their collection. I would recommend a watercolour by Jagannath Panda (Rs 2.75 lakh), a light installation by Shilpa Gupta (Rs 4.50 lakh) and I was not waving but drowning by Atul Bhalla (Rs 2.75 lakh). Gupta's work deals with text in some form which is then given a visual dimension through neon, balloons, soap, etc. The visual imagery of Panda's work is deceptively simple: they comprise linear drawings and a rendered form or two, which seem to float on the surface. And Bhalla's work is a series of 14 digital pigment photographs depicting the artist's gradual descent into the Yamuna. They form a poignant montage on the spirituality and environmental degradation of the water revered by the Hindus.

Siddhartha Tagore
(Director, gallery and auction house, Art Bull )

I recommend large, yet intricate, mixed media works by Anindita Bhattacharya (Rs 4 lakh), a set of two new-media works by Vinita Dasgupta (Rs 1 lakh each), a fibre sculpture by Tapas Sarkar (Rs 3 lakh ), and a paperwork by Priyanka Govil (Rs 90,000). Each is a promising young star and his or her work is different from the run-of-the-mill. Bhattacharya is influenced by Mughal miniatures. She uses intricate images in patterns that give an illusion of abstraction, demanding an intimacy from the viewer. Dasgupta is currently exploring new media - tiny canvases with folk paintings that she makes in Raghurajpur style are strategically rolled and juxtaposed to form a larger picture that is dissimilar to the small images used to create it. Govil deals with the notion of space while experimentally transcreating landscapes on to her pictorial canvases. Tapas Sarkar, on the other hand, is being sought out by foreign galleries and museums. His three-dimensional take on the popular Kalighat Pata images has been widely appreciated. With over 37 years of practice, Sarkar, in a reminiscent mood, has returned to his earlier years of experience, as an intent observer of art in the making, and art that people breathe without being conscious of the act.

Alka Raghuvanshi
(Author, curator, painter)

People should acquire artworks that they love, and not because they want to invest in art. I recommend works by Manisha Gawade, Niren Sengupta and Shridhar Iyer as there is a timelessness about their work. It takes sensitivity to understand the concept of abstraction and take it to a logical conclusion. There is a datedness to figurative imagery whereas abstract imagery is timeless. Gawade has created a set of three artworks- acrylic on canvas - titled Windmills of the Mind (The centrepiece is priced at Rs 2.75 lakh and the two side pieces, Rs 1.80 lakh each), while Iyer has come up with a Jatra series (Rs 2.70 lakh). Sengupta has used gold leaf and acrylic on canvas to create At The Lotus Feet (Rs 4.30 lakh). The market for abstract imagery has matured and people are responding to such manifestations of art. Consequently abstract work is getting a higher degree of acceptance.

Prateek Raja
(Director, Experimenter)

I recommend Rathin Barman's What I have seen II, Congratulations & Celebrations, Tribute, Imaginary Ordinary, The Great Escape & Plan of Attack by Mehreen Murtaza, Adip Dutta's Untitled which is ink and brush on paper and Prabhakar Pachpute's Climate Change. Or you can opt for Two of Two (Rs 3.5 lakh), a suite of six archival prints on paper by Bani Abidi. The large sculptural piece by Burman (Rs 2 lakh) comments on the artist's interest of transformations that cities make. Watch out for Murtaza, a young Pakistani artist who works with political issues and the point of emergence and ramifications of science and science fiction. His creation (Rs 1.75 lakh), a set of five works that talk about the lawyers' protest in 2010, was a very fragile moment in Pakistani politics. Dutta's Untitled (Rs 1.5 lakh) is an ink and brush drawing that speaks of the beautiful in the banal everyday objects, while Prabhakar Pachpute's Climate Change (Rs 2 lakh), shows his deep concern for the politics of labour.