Art Galleries from Tier - II cities competing with Indian biggies and International Galleries

Shrishti Hyderabad

OED Kochi

Archer Ahmedabad

It is good news for the art industry and the art lovers that the art market is expanding its wing  from the art capitals Delhi and Mumbai to Tier - II cities also.

Here are the excerpts from an article in TOI by Archana Ghare Ghose:

• This year's India Art Fair saw a new phenomenon: the rise of art galleries and buyers from Tier II cities.
• Galleries from Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Kochi and Jaipur are competing for space with biggies , not just from India, but also from world capitals like London, Paris and New York
• Archer Art gallery from Ahmedabad and Open Eyed Dreams Gallery from Kochi are on their repeat outing to the fair, while others like Kal;akriti and Shrishti art galleries from Hyderabad are here for the first time.
• "Newer and younger collectors, especially those buying art for the first time don't hit straight for the top artists like Hussain or Raza because of the prohibitive prices. They want to begin at lower price points and that is where galleries like mine come in to help initiate them into the world of buying art." says Manan Relia of Archer Art  Gallery  Ahmedabad. He hopes that this new group spreading across the Tier- II cities would eventually graduate to buying topnotch art.
• The new rich of Hyderabad city are turning to art in a big way." Many people in Hyderabad are setting up new homes and come to fill their blank walls." says Nambiar of Shrishti Gallery Hyderabad.
• participation in Art Fair also helps Galleries from Tier - II India get business exposure and learn  the experiences of big galleries

On the whole, it is a positive sign that the art market is expanding to many places and the galleries from Tier II cities are getting good exposures and marching ahead of the curve.

'Art Beat' in Delhi and 'Art Attack' in Mumbai?

Art Beat in Delhi and Art Attack in Mumbai?

"Stop, Indians ahead"

 The grand success of the third India Art summit in Pragati Maidan Delhi raises a question as to  why such mega events are not happening in Mumbai, which was supposed to be the art capital of India, a decade ago. Has Mumbai lost its thriving Art capital status to the Capital of India?

Here are some excerpts from a noteworthy   article from Bombay Times of today, on this subject:

• While in Mumbai art is found only in traditional galleries and exhibition halls, Delhi has art in malls and even in night clubs!
• Mumbai has no art event close to the scale of Art Summit of Delhi which attracted 1,28,000 visitors over four days. The works of 500 Indian Modern and contemporary artists were showcased in 84 galleries.
• Number of art galleries is more in Delhi and it is geographically wide spread across the entire city. Whereas in Mumbai the galleries are concentrated only in South Mumbai. “Delhi is more open to public installations, which Mumbai does not permit. The NGMA in Delhi is active and doing greater shows, but the one in Mumbai is pathetic. During the Art Summit in Delhi, the entire Government machinery gets involved. The Mumbai art fair gets no such support from the Government” says Mumbai-based gallery owner  Pravina Mecklai
• Exploring new avenues for art proves to be successful for Delhi, whereas it is not working in Mumbai. Kiran Nadar the wife of Siva nadir has opened the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art in a mall. “to bring visibility and appreciation t art”.
• Mithu basu of Dolna Art Gallery explains “I tried to have an art event along with a fashion week and tied up with MCEA club to host art events, but exploring nontraditional spaces in Mumbai isn’t easy”
• Delhi is showing creativity in spaces where art is exhibited. The capital’s corporate art lovers, industrialists and hoteliers are indulging in new creative projects and redefining art spaces.
• “Lado Sara in Delhi is coming up as art hub while Jamia is coming up with Hussain gallery. However Mumbai’s Bhau Daji Lad museum has also started doing some interesting work. I think it will be interesting to see where the two cities go from here” – Peter Nagy of Nature Morte gallery Delhi.

 Courtesy: intach.org

"Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Mumbai :  INTACH won the Award of Excellence in the UNESCO 2005 Asia Pacific Heritage Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation for the restoration of Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum. Opened in 1872, it is the oldest museum in Mumbai and documents the city’s history and diverse cultural heritage"

Art galleries can express their views as comments to this post  

About Syed Haider Raza, the Master of Modern Art and few statistics on Indian Art in India

This is a post based on the excellent article published in TOI of  27-11-2011 - 'Masters and the Economics of Art' by Archana Khare Ghose. We acknowledge te source with thanks.

• The Indian Art Market is valued at anywhere from $100 million to $ 400 million ( roughly about Rs 1000 to 1600 crores )
• 50 to 60 percent of the above market is controlled by the Big Four Club consisting of Modern Art masters MF Hussain (1915-2011), FN Souza (1924-2002) , Tyeb Mehta (1925 -2009) and  Syed Haider Raza
• The Indian art market is lap sided, the collector base being just 500, largely located in 2 cities. However there is a hope among collectors that the market will expand soon as Tier II and Tier III cities acquire more money power now.
• China market is 40 times that of India and has done internationally
• Sapna Kar of Indian Art Collective initiative, whose online fair just concluded says , " I have received queries from Hyderabad, Surat and Gaya. A big chunk of the future of Indian Art lies in the smaller cities where people have the money to buy art but no exposure yet".
• Menaka Kumar Sha , the Head of Newyork auction house Christies cites the example of collectors in Coimbatore who are beginning to set up art institutions.
• Anybody with enough money to buy top-end art wants to own a Hussain , a Raza, a Souza or a Mehta. The enduring popularity of these super sellers had even survived the recession.
• Maithili Parekh , Director of Sotheby's India says that it is the historicity of modern masters - a term that would also include, besides the top four, artists like Jamini Roy, the Tagors, VS Gaitonde, Akbar Padamsee, Ram Kumar  and a few others - that makes them so attractive.
• Arun Vadehra of Delh based Vadehra Art gallery ( and host of Raza's latest exhibition)  adds that buying a canvas by a top-ended modern master is like buying " a piece of history".

Top Three Raza Paintings

Saurashtra- 1983 Acrylic on canvas

Saurashtra- 1983 Acrylic on canvas is the most expensive Indian canvas ever sold. Price Rs 16.49 crores. It was auctioned by Christies in June 2010.

La Terre 1973, acrylic on canvas

 Price Rs 10 crores approximately - One of the highest prices achieved by Indian canvas before 2008 downtown.

La Terre 1985, acrylic on canvas

Price Rs.10 crore approximately. - Another top canvas by Raza and sold by Christies in September 2010