Getting into auction season

If you have anything to do with art, it’s hard to miss the pressures that June brings with it for both buyers and sellers. Four auctions in the space of just one month makes the eco-system for art consumption appear quite healthy. In truth, a growing number of auctions is chasing what is still a very small base of collectors, putting stress on both — but the excitement is hard to miss too. 

Already, two auctions have concluded, Christie’s tidy 70-lots sale in London on June 12 (as well as another on antiquities and pre-modern art the same day) where the star of the show turned out to be a painting by Hemen Mazumdar (Abhiman) that was snapped up by a Delhi-based collector following a brisk bidding war for a record Rs 40 million, 15 times its pre-sale lower estimate of Rs 2.25 million. But there was disappointment too at the under-performance by the Progressives, seeming to suggest that Raza, Husain and poster boy Gaitonde might be losing some of their charm among collectors. One might have been tempted to include Tyeb Mehta in that list too, only the artist’s work, on the cover of the Saffronart catalogue, broke his own as well as the record for Indian modern art with a posting of Rs 260.4 million. 

Saffronart’s was a 150-lots sale so it was a no-brainer that it mopped up more (Rs 770 million) than the Christie’s (Rs 400 million) sale, but putting together a large, “quality” sale still remains a challenge for Indian art, where only a few names have dominated the artscape for a while. From playing safe to taking risks, the auction houses have their task cut out for them, and being in their shoes could hardly be enviable. Which is what makes AstaGuru’s outing this month of contemporary art from India — the “Southeast Asian” red herring can’t hide the fact that 75 per cent of the works are Indian, even though the cover lot is a Chinese canvas by Zhang Xiaogang — a change that might take getting used to.

From playing safe to taking risks, the auction houses have their task cut out for them, and being in their shoes could hardly be enviable

It’s also a gamble. It could bring collectors back into the contemporary market, which has still to recover from the severe scorching it received in 2008, and from which it has since remained alienated. It’s certainly insightful to see the attractive price estimates offered for previous contemporary stars, which is what makes the online auction (June 24-25) appealing. The introduction of Southeast Asian art appears twofold — introduce another category of the diverse art market to jaded Indian collectors, but more convincingly to introduce Indian art to collectors in Southeast Asia and thereby, increase the base interested in Indian art. Will it work? Only time — and the results — will tell. 

The very next day, June 26, Pundole’s has a live auction slated for Mumbai. It’s the smallest sale of the lot but it’s drawing attention, because of a nude by Akbar Padamsee (estimate: Rs 40-60 million), rare by any standards. It’s an unusual – and impressive — painting, but the auction selection as a whole seems well curated, and the estimates are attractive, which is a classic Pundole’s pull-point — low estimates, high realisations.

The next big sales will be in September and December, during which Dubai-based Artiana (which last had an auction in May) will have its big annual outing, while everyone is looking to see what tricks Sotheby’s will pull out of its bag for its debut India sale in Mumbai. It’s quickly moved into the December slot vacated by Christie’s, which had built up that market, but if it has to upstage its predecessor, it will have to walk the tightrope between wanting to create a spectacular record as well as grow the market with a rich smorgasbord. A clear case of the chicken and the egg…

Kishore Singh is a Delhi-based writer and art critic. These views are personal and do not reflect those of the organisation with which he is associated