 "Home to art")
Investors spend their money on bankable artists, collectors are driven by aesthetics and their gut, but what do artists turn to? Having known some of them, it might be a truism to say that they don't care much for other artists but collect other objects. Many boast huge libraries, some because they were teachers, others because they truly delight in sifting through folios. These include Manu Parekh who uses books for reference, and sculptor KS Radhakrishnan whose reading room is an adda for younger artists and art lovers. Jatin Das collects hand-held fans. Paresh Maity and the late Manjit Bawa have both been keen photographers.
What does it say then, this ennui? Do younger artists have egos so fragile they cannot handle their competitors at close quarters? This was not always the case; senior artists tended to be more generous and less threatened. They gave and received works and were argumentative. Bhupen Khakhar's home was almost a streetscape of images that included art by him and others, framed photographs, posters, calendars and the detritus of either passing interests or sentimental souvenirs. Mostly, it had character and revealed more about him than his reticent personality allowed. Some artists I know collect the works of artists that they admired while in art school, or even photographs, but would not like it known. Far from being their salons, many artists now treat their homes as private spaces and do not like to share it with strangers - even if they are collectors.
But I have still to find interesting collectors among the young generation of artists. Manisha Gera Baswani is one exception. She has a home where you'll find carefully curated works by many serious artists, including her teacher Ramachandran. I haven't been to her new home in Gurgaon but when she lived in New Delhi you could spot from masters to contemporaries to quirky objects in a lively, organised clutter. It offered an insight into her intelligent personality.
But artists don't always require the chaos of art as stimulation. Far too many are probably so exhausted by their laboursand the stimulus of galleries that they prefer their walls at home to be completely sterile. It might come as a surprise to visitors, but isn't actually difficult to understand. I think a chef might sympathise with them. It's probably the reason that fashion designers themselves rarely dress up.
Then there are those artists who dazzle you with their own works. Often - because artists also tend to marry artists - you'll find the works of both spouses with one dominating the space while the other gets only the corners. That's not necessarily a comment on their relationship, more a reality check on the availability, or shortage, of works as they are packed off to galleries, or exhibitions, to be hung on walls beyond their own homes.
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
