C'est la vie - Art galleries continue to brave the markets left cold by the Mumbai terror attacks and economic crisis

One keeps hearing of reports where art shows have been postponed, trips abroad have been cancelled by artists, and galleries have cut down on expenses, so I thought of checking it out with local galleries to find out how they are coping with the current economic crisis. Are there strategies in place to counter the slowdown? Silloo Daruwala from Crimson Art Resource confirms that sales are hit but they are continuing with their shows. She says, “We might postpone a couple of shows in December by a week or so, but that is more to do with the Mumbai attack rather than the financial situation.” She feels people are affected emotionally as well, and when there has been such a loss to life, one is not in a mood to celebrate with art shows. However, one has to go ahead with all art activities.

Mona Webber from Gallery Sumukha affirms that it is not only sales but also footfalls that have reduced. She says, “Probably people feel that if they visit a gallery and if they like something, they might be tempted to buy. It is a little early to have an aggressive strategy but we will review the situation in the New Year and will decide what needs to be done.” She agrees that the Mumbai attacks have added to the overall sombre mood. Mona also feels that it is a buyer’s market now and there are people looking out for good bargains. According to her it is likely to be another 2 yrs before the situation stabilises.

RK Dugar from Gallery Mementos that recently opened its branch in the city plans to hold more shows of affordable art that is of good quality. He finds that people are still buying art but they are more into affordable art – below a certain price. He looks forward to organizing exhibitions of new and young artists, as people are continuing to buy art for smaller amounts. He believes that it will be at least a year before the financial markets begin to stabilise.
Obviously art cannot be on anyone’s priority list in times like this. However, one cannot suspend all activities and hope to resurface when the market is vibrant again. Well defined strategies may not be in place but most galleries will continue to organize events as planned so that their presence is maintained and they can capitalise on it when the market looks up again.

Art Insurance

(By Nalini S Malaviya)

Insurance of artworks is a fairly common trend abroad but remains a relatively new concept in India. However, it appears to be catching on as the number of collectors and investors has grown substantially in the last few years. In fact, now there are more companies who offer art insurance.

Why do you need to insure art? It is important to insure art against natural disasters, theft, fire or any other damage caused due to unforeseen circumstances. Museums, galleries and also private collections are now increasingly turning towards insurance coverage. Still, at the moment there are only a limited number of companies offering insurance for fine art. As premiums are high, most private collectors and investors shy away from insuring their collections. There is an urgent need for greater awareness and also friendlier policies that cater exclusively for art.

Reputed galleries ensure that their artworks are insured in transit but collectors and investors too should make sure they have an insurance cover when they lend out their works for public viewing. Else, any damage caused in transit or at the public site can cause an irrevocable loss.

It is important to document the collection appropriately through photograph, receipts, provenance certificates or any other related papers. One must go through the policy in detail to understand the fine print completely. Policies may vary according to the size of the collection, or in some cases one may want to insure only a part of it. Smaller collections or a few pieces could be covered as part of a comprehensive household insurance cover. Look around to find a policy that suits your needs.

The art collection needs to be appraised for its estimated value. Professional valuations can be done periodically to ensure it matches the market rates. Undervaluing the collection can lower the premium but in case of a loss or damage the claims will also be lower and the compensation may not be adequate.
When insuring, a significant criterion in selecting the insurance agent should be to opt for a company who has built a reputation of honouring claims.

(Published in Financial Times)

Random notes

(Nalini S Malaviya)

Miami Art Fair
The International Asian Contemporary art fair ‘Art Asia’ will be held at Miami later this week and Bangalore based artist Ravikumar Kashi will be showing his recent works there. Ravi is known for his experimentation with various mediums and in this fair he presents his photographs from a series called Snanidhi Series. In the past, Ravi has worked with new media and assemblages that have dealt with issues of urbanization and consumerism. In fact, his paintings used images from media to depict global issues that are equally relevant from a local context. Ravi has a Masters degree in printmaking from MS University, Baroda, and in English from Mysore University.

(Art Asia will be held from December 4 – 7, 2008 at Miami)

A ‘Modern’ show
Last week I attended the preview of an exhibition by Modern artists - FN Souza, SH Raza, Akbar Padamsee and Ram Kumar. There is a single Bindu work and a few other abstracts by Raza, nudes by Souza, and two works by Ram Kumar. The one in muted shades is a beautiful piece of art, and its photograph just does not do justice to the original. Raza, who now lives in Paris, is famous for his paintings that centre round a circle or Bindu as a creative energy force that permeates the entire universe, while Souza’s paintings are intense and known for their strong bold lines. All the four artists are well known names in the Indian art world and have also received widespread global recognition.

(The exhibition continues till 16th December at Gallery Mementos, The Chancery, Lavelle Road, Bangalore.)

India Art Summit 2009
The first art summit was held earlier this year in Delhi and had elicited mixed response from art connoisseurs. However, most visitors had agreed that it offered an excellent platform for networking and it was high time that India had its own art fair that could be at par with international levels.
The dates for the next art summit have been announced and it will be held from 19th - 22nd of August 2009 at New Delhi. This year too will see Seminars and Talks with speakers including curators, critics, artists, collectors and representatives from museums and galleries. Plans are on to create a sculpture park in order to offer participants and visitors an art fair like ambience. Art films, education series and social events will also be held for visitors. One hopes the summit is able to garner support from all quarters given the current economic crisis affecting all markets.

(Published in Bangalore Mirror)

A look at the art market

(By Nalini S Malaviya)

There is no denying that the art market is currently going though a period of recession, correction or adjustment, as various analysts put it. In its recent art market review, Sotheby’s points out that the combined result for the two weeks of sales at Sotheby's and Christie's was $775,747,825. It goes on to say that despite the economic recession, buyers have spent a huge amount on art. The results also indicate that ‘rare and spectacular’ works were sold at the Impressionist and Modern art sales, while there was ‘target buying for exceptional works’ at the Contemporary art sales. According to the auction house, Sotheby’s the results ‘display confidence in an eventual return to the longer-term trend of rising prices’. This will sound promising to investors who have bought art as a long term investment.

In the context of Indian art, investors would have noticed that while prices of Modern artists have remained more or less at previous levels, prices for Contemporary artists have come down substantially. The trend however is not unforeseen. Modern artists have been exhibiting their works for years and have established a niche for themselves. They are backed by a proven track record and consistent performance at domestic and international auctions. Their demand has been quite constant in the primary as well as secondary market over the years. However, one should note that now the overall demand for art itself has come down. This again is expected as most investors have been going through a liquidity crisis. The ArtTactic report on the Indian art market, which came out earlier this month, also indicates a drop in confidence from October 2007 and May 2008 to now.
On the whole, investors will now be extremely quality conscious and will look out for exceptional works from both Modern and Contemporary artists.

(Pubished in Financial Times)

Portraits

The other day someone wrote in asking for information on artists who can make a portrait from a photograph. Frankly, there are very few people who now opt for this. Portraits were more common in the days when full colour photography was in its nascent stages. Remember, any palace you visited you could find numerous members of the royal family staring you down. Most of them were characterised by the feature that wherever you went their eyes seemed to be following you around. It gave one a strange and eerie feeling.
These days, very few people have their portraits painted, although there are a few who get a late family member’s portrait done. In this case a photograph is used as a reference to create an exact replica of the photograph, or it is used to create a portrait which gives an impression as if the subject had posed for it.
Portrait painting is a specialised field and requires considerable skill to ensure a resemblance to the subject. As this falls in the realm of realism, the artist does not have any scope to experiment with his creativity. Nowadays, there are many ways to ensure an exact reproduction of the subject, but in the olden days, artists had to rely completely on their skill to do so. John Singleton Copley was one such painter who was well known in the latter half of 18th century. He was famous for his realistic looking portraits that sparkled with the illusion of real silk, lace, pearls, skin and hair.


Metal Art

One of the few art exhibitions that I visited last week was one at Chitrakala Parishath where these larger than life sized metallic statues gleamed in the sunlight. A Red Indian with a spear and a rifle stood menacingly with his feet apart, while a Spiderman was perched on the rocky surface. These were the creations of Ilyas Ahmed, a welding engineer who now turns metal scrap into sculptures. Ilyas began his artistic tryst by taking a generator apart and putting it back together as a small statue. Now, this has turned into a passion and he actually buys scrap to create these pieces. Here and there one could recognize nuts, bolts, and chains which were used to form the metallic chassis.
The metallic parts were treated in order to prevent rusting.
Toy sized motorcycles and hybrid creatures that probably abound in the gaming videos and popular fictional characters from films were carefully displayed on shelves and pedestals. The sculptures that ranged in price from Rs 2,500 to 5 lakhs were seen to be attracting a lot of visitors. What stood out in these sculptures was the excellent design and workmanship.

(Published in Bangalore Mirror)