Institutionalizing The Indian Art Market: Waiting for the Big Bang

Dr. Seema Bawa

Shows, art fairs and auctions have made their presence felt in India, set to boost what some analysts feel is an expanding art market. The question is whether this market is a reality, a potentially huge untapped source of great value or is this a miasma held out in front of artists and collectors to increase sales. The hype is still present, but there is no roar amongst the artists and galleries. The big bang that would take Indian art into the stratosphere is eagerly awaited, where one painting by a contemporary Indian artist would fetch 50 million dollars at an auction. The entry of Sotheby’s and Christie’s, the two big names among global art auction houses into the Indian art markret promised to bring in more professionalism into the habitually unorganized art sector.
The total sales of 55 crores in 2013 at Sotheby’s looks great on paper but does not compare favourably with European and Chinese art in terms of value. The CEO of Christie’s, Steven P Murphy said, “We will hold auctions in India, allowing Indian collectors domestic access to works of art sourced by Christie’s, international collectors access to the very best of Indian art, and opening channels to our global network and specialist expertise.” Similar hopes of exponential growth are reiterated by Dr. Amin Jaffer, Christie’s international director of Asian art, according to whom, “India is an exciting, dynamic market for us.” In 2013, 35% of the buyers were brand new registrants. The hope is that figures would rise to round to a hundred in the near future.