No more taboo

Indian collectors are no longer wary of Western artists

Long years ago, the Indian elite bought Western art as a matter of course, sometimes not wisely (as is evident in the collection at Salarjung Museum, Hyderabad), investing as much in kitsch as in handsome commissions (William and Thomas Daniell, or Tilly Kettle). The obsession with buying Indian art to the exclusion of all else was a post-independence one, and saw a surge in the last decade as prices of Indian artists began to soar. Despite the availability of funds, local wisdom indicated that Indian buyers – including those who lived overseas – were unwilling to spend on works by Western artists.

But of everything that is ever said by analysts in India, the opposite is also always true. Did two works by Pablo Picasso actually sell at the India Art Summit in New Delhi a fortnight ago at $1 million each? Certainly, there was evidence of a large number of works by Western masters at the numerous pavilions. Picassos were shown by Grosvenor Gallery, London (which also showed works by Henry Moore, Henri Matisse and Salvador Dali), Die Galerie, Frankfurt (which also had Joan Miro and Marc Chagall), Beck & Eggeling, Dusseldorf (along with Georges Braque and Marc Chagall) and Willem Baars Projects, Amsterdam (from where reports filtered in of sales for both Picasso as well as Anish Kapoor).

Anish Kapoor, the flavor of the Summit – he was also a speaker and enjoyed rock-star status – was treated both as a British as well as an Indian artist, as were works by New York-based F N Souza, who too was shown by both Indian and foreign galleries. It seemed almost natural that a Souza oil should hang next to a Picasso linocut. Julian Opie was the other artist who seemed to be well exhibited — by Mumbai’s Sakshi Gallery and London’s Lisson Gallery, for instance, while Volte Gallery, Mumbai, attracted eyeballs with Anish Kapoor and Damien Hirst.

And even though it could hardly have anticipated any sales, Robert Bowman Modern, London, which had an original mould of Auguste Rodin’s Thinker (priced at several crores), among other works by masters, could hardly complain about a lack of footfalls, or interest. Interesting, then, that last week should see a new collection by Marigold Fine Art, so far India’s only gallery to deal exclusively in Western artists, with works by Julian Opie (at Rs 20 lakh each for the triptychs), editions of Rodin’s Thinker (Rs 70 lakh; while another work, The Kiss, priced here at Rs 65 lakh, was auctioned recently in China for Rs 82 lakh), and Damien Hirst’s Fun series had small format works priced at Rs 35 lakh each.

In 2008, when Sotheby’s had brought in a selection by Hirst to New Delhi, there was a lot of vicarious interest in the artist’s creations, but almost no one (apart from the auction house, one supposes) had given any thought to Indians actually wanting to buy his cocktail of highly macabre but aesthetic assemblages (the vial in these works contains real blood, with the butterflies and pills pointing to the doomed combination of beauty and fragility). Previously, Marigold had brought in Salvador Dali’s sculpture editions; in now upping its ante, it seems to be moving out of the comfort zone of what some considered decorative and pop art to a more exciting and edgier avatar.

Are we, therefore, seeing the melting away of geographies? At a time when even Indian art is little known of, it is difficult to imagine Western art making a sweep, but the rising confidence among collectors is indicative that they will no longer shy from wanting to gild their collections with an Anish Kapoor sculpture or work by Damien Hirst and, going forward, possibly find space on the wall for Francis Bacon alongside Pablo Picasso alongside F N Souza, or pay an ode to the surreal with a Salvador Ali in proximity to a Jehangir Sabavala canvas. This blending of cultures – and art – could just be the next trend with the current 13-15 per cent customs excise (but averaging 22 per cent as landed cost after all levies have been paid) acting as a speed-breaker.

These views are personal and do not reflect those of the organisation with which the writer is associated.

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