Advertisement

Help
You are here: Rediff Home » India » Business » Photos
Search:  Rediff.com The Web
  Email this Page  |   Write to us

Next

India's top-earning artists

March 11, 2008
M F Husain, a million-dollar club member

India's economic boom has not only enabled Indians to buy houses and cars, but also to purchase expensive art.

"This interest in art is nothing but a lifestyle change we are witnessing," said art critic Manasij Majumdar, speaking to rediff.com. "Now young entrepreneurs and industrialists are spending a huge part of their income in buying art. Reason: art has a unique status of its own. Purchasing art is a way of saying that one has arrived in life," said Majumdar.

Indian art market, therefore, is quite hot. So who are the maestros whose works are in big demand and how much does one need to invest to be able to own a masterpiece? Find out. . .

Master painter Maqbool Fida Husain recently joined the million-dollar club with one of his paintings on slain theatre artist Safdar Hashmi going under the hammer for over $1 million.

An unidentified art collector won the keenly fought bidding at an auction organised by Emami Chisel Art Auction House in Kolkata on February 25 to bag Tribute to Hashmi for Rs 4.4 crore (Rs 44 million).

The same bidder also added Tyeb Mehta's Kali-III to his collection for the same amount. Mehta's painting had the highest reserve price of Rs 2.5 crore (Rs 25 million) for the bidding.

Ten years ago, no Indian artist dared to even dream of getting such hefty sums for their works. But today the exorbitant prices come as no surprise to either the collectors or the artists, especially for the likes of Husain, Mehta, F N Souza, Sakti Burman and Jogen Chowdhury.

The first multi-crore deal in Indian art market happened, in 2002, when a non-resident Indian (originally from Hyderabad) bought a painting by Husain (Horses) for Rs 2 crore (Rs 20 million). At that time it was the highest price ever paid for any painting in India.

Husain's another high was when he sold 22 paintings of a series called Paris Suite to a London-based collector for $1 million.

Corporatisation of art work may be common in the West, but the phenomenon struck India for the first time in September, 2004, when Mumbai-based Swarup Group of Industries paid a mammoth Rs 100 crore for 125 paintings by Husain.

Some called the deal 'vulgar', others 'excellent' but there is no denying that Indian art market had never witnessed anything like this before.

Was that the beginning? Possible. Which is the costliest painting by an Indian artist? Works by which Indian artists are lapped up by the collectors? To get an insight into the price structure of the Indian art scene, read on.
Text: Indrani Roy Mitra

Image: An auctioneer takes bids on Indian painter Maqbool Fida Husain's (inset) Woman and Horses (1915) during a Christie's auction in Dubai.

Photograph: STR/AFP/Getty Images
Also read: Art as an investment? Watch out!

Next

© 2008 Rediff.com India Limited. All Rights Reserved.Disclaimer | Feedback