Does art have a season? It would seem so, given the loosening of purse strings that occurs with the cooling of the weather around Diwali, which, in any case, has turned into a celebration of excess. With the jewellery and property and clothes that the mad season of shopping brings in its wake follows a desire for something that may seem a little less tangible, but has the ability and longevity to outlast all these by far. Indians are superstitious about big spends, and the period of sharad is a dampener for art sales, as for any other luxury commodity, but a lifting of the mood has occurred, enquiries are trickling in, the big auctions are lined up, interesting exhibitions have begun or are in the pipeline, and with the Kochi-Muziris Biennale in December and India Art Fair in the first week of February, it's definitely art season.
Do artists have blue days? We've only seen artists in galleries, at their or other artists' openings. But what do they get up to when they're locked into their studio? Depending on their mood, or whim, it can be the loneliest, most creative space you'll ever see. An artist staring at a blank canvas is no different from an author gazing at a blank screen at the start of a novel. For make no mistake, it marks the start of a journey that can, by turns, be exhilarating, exhausting, frustrating, frightening, joyous. It is where an artist is most vulnerable, hence their reluctance to let anyone in. It is where mistakes can sometimes be resurrected as new forms of expression, or lead to their exasperated demise (of the art, not the artist). If you are privileged to enter this sacred space, treat it with the respect it deserves - for you are in a spot where, knowingly or unknowingly, history is being recorded.
Do collectors have personalities? Art values might seem to suggest avarice, but the thoughtful collector is most likely to be sensitive or thoughtful, but also competitive or aggressive, and definitely passionate. A true collector cannot be denied - something auctions profit from - and though price is a sieving point in the matrix, what marks collectors is their concentration on the kind of art they wish to assemble: the masters, or a single collective or school, prints, a trophy artist or a handful of favourites, or, indeed, an entire caboodle that includes everything from antiquities to memorabilia, collectibles and what we loosely term art. It is this filtering that makes collections exceptional and lays the future ground for scholars to study and art dealers to chase.
What's to document? While serious and large collections need documentation, even small or modest collections deserve it for reasons of posterity and financial worth. You should have a file that contains the following information: name of artist, title of work, its provenance (that is, a history of purchase and ownership), medium, signature details, any record of restoration, a photograph, which will be useful when seeking insurance, or making a will, or, indeed, a sale. Paperwork increases the value of a work of art - sometimes exponentially.
What trumps the markets? With the arrival of the term "investment" in the art lexicon, unfortunately our way of looking at art has skewed. Art must essentially be about aesthetics, about an artist's ability to communicate whatever he or she chooses - whether a sentiment or a searing narrative -in a medium and in a manner that can be easily understood or leave things open to our own interpretations. Art must be about enjoyment and the refinement that accompanies it. Investment? Leave that to the bankers and other financial agencies while you enjoy ownership - or, if not that, through galleries and museums, viewership.
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
