Going the international route

(Ah, a byline after ages...!)

“I was unsure if international artwork will find takers,” Gaurav Assomul is reported to have said in December last year, when his Marigold Fine Art took a show of European art to New Delhi. There was no reason to worry, he found, when the entire exhibition was sold out on the opening night. And with the battalion of buyers clamouring for more, the Marigold gallery in Mumbai hosted paintings, lithographs, prints and sculptures by familiar names like Salvador Dali, David Kracov, Stéphane Cipre, Jorg Doring, Arman, Andy Warhol, Serge Mendjisky, Franck Tordjmann, Patrick Hughes and Pablo Picasso last month, signed, numbered and certified works available at prices between Rs3,00,000 and Rs30,00,000. Both signed Picasso lithographs and Dali’s The Persistence of Memory were snapped up, while other pieces found enthusiastic buyers.

There may have always been an audience for art of this kind, with non-Indian signatures, but gallery showings and sales in this country of these works have not been frequent. With the growing awareness of international artists and their talent and the increasing ability of Indians in India to access and buy their creative productions, it would seem logical for them to be made available locally. But as one aficionado - (who prefers not to be named here) who has counted Modigliani in his list of haute-buys and has hobnobbed socially with the likes of Lucien Freud – says, “What you would get here would not be the ‘name’ pieces, but mainly prints, lithographs and perhaps certified replicas of the originals. Wouldn’t it make more sense to have the ‘real’, original melting watch by Dali, for instance, rather than something that you know is not ‘the thing’?” He, obviously, seems to prefer to look, smile and shop elsewhere.

But there is a growing market for international signatures, judging by sales at shows. Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, for one, is familiar territory for the work of non-Indian artists in Mumbai. Gallerist Ranjana Mirchandani-Steinruecke believes that “It would be exaggerated to call it a ‘market’, but there are a few collectors interested in looking at and buying art that’s not Indian. And actually the prices of non-Indian artists of similar calibre have been less than those of their Indian counterparts.” She sees the market developing “with the younger generation of Indian collector. Today, by and large, as always, the intelligentsia takes the lead and others follow.”

Ashish Nagpal, gallerist, art entrepreneur and promoter agrees that there is a market in India for international art, but “This is the wrong time, considering the meltdown,” for sales to be brisk. But the awareness is obviously growing, with people becoming more educated about art and artists. “They know art is an investment. I would see a market for prints of senior and more expensive artists and originals of the younger and more affordable ones.” However, “A person who has not bought Indian art will probably not buy international art – the education is important. Dali and Picasso rule the roost, and Damien Hirst and Anish Kapoor – I know a lot of Indian collectors are dying to lay their hands on his work, for instance,” are eagerly looked for, Nagpal says.

There are some who are not yet ready to venture into ‘foreign territory’. As Dadiba Pundole of the Pundole Art Gallery says, for him, “So far the focus has been Indian art. It took a long hard time getting Indian art where it is today. I am not sure if my involvement with my primary concern is over. At the same time, one is not closed to ideas.” As to what he believes will sell, “It comes down to quality and not just financial propositions.
Unfortunately, most people buy art for the wrong reasons, so individual perceptions will dictate the market.”

Neville Tuli, Founder Chairman - Osian's, commenting on the market, current or potential, for works of international contemporary and modern artists in India, says, “First, let the markets for the Indian arts strengthen and deepen. But it is absolutely a good idea to bring international art into India and start that process of exchange.”

And where snob values are concerned, does an international name hold a more coveted cachet for a local buyer than an Indian signature on a work of art? Assomull seems to think so, reportedly asking: "If you can own three original Dalis for the price of one Hussain, what would you buy?" Mirchandani-Steinruecke has a different take on that debatable issue, saying, “No, we are happy with our desi ghee.”