In fact, today everyone is well aware of the deep relationship between capitalism and art. Hardly anyone would have not seen the video of Maurizio Cattelan eating a banana stuck on tape to billionaire Justin Sun, known as the king of crypto currency.
Sun honestly paid 62 lakh dollars (about Rs 50 crore) for this ‘audacity’ during the Sotheby’s auction. Indian artists have not yet achieved this level of success, but the works of many of our leading modernist painters have.
Especially the works of late painters are regularly auctioned at banana prices. Indian contemporary art spent much of the 20th century in the abstract shadow of Western artists, and M.F. Hussain and F.N. Homegrown talents like Souza were embroiled in an unseen competition to be recognized as ‘India’s Picasso’.
Like everything else, this scenario also changed after economic liberalization began in the 1990s. In this respect, 1995 proved to be a milestone year as two auctions of modern Indian art were held at Sotheby’s in New York and Christie’s in London. Due to this, the price and prestige of the works of the first generation artists i.e. progressive artists after independence and all the artists after them increased significantly.
Tyeb Mehta’s ‘Mahishasur’ was sold at Christie’s in 2005 for US$10 lakh (Rs 8.5 crore) and since then the growth has continued and many milestones have been established. Raza’s ‘Saurashtra’ was sold for 34.8 lakh dollars (Rs 29.5 crore) in the year 2010 and Gaitonde’s untitled work was sold for 55 lakh dollars (Rs 46.6 crore) in the year 2021. Living artists also benefited from this, prominent among them is Subodh Gupta who joined the 1 million dollar league in 2008. An artwork depicting his steel utensils was sold for $1.2 million (Rs 10.2 crore) in another Christie’s auction.
The global art market is influenced by the ups and downs of international finance (and art buyers). The first ‘boom’ of the Indian art market came crashing down in 2008 when prices fell sharply. But this business soon came back on track; By 2015, both major international auctioneers had started their sales of contemporary Indian art in Mumbai.
Although Christie’s again pulled out in 2017, by then many Indian auction houses had established themselves as serious players. Similarly, India’s wealthy class patronized the arts and names like Ambani, Nadar and Poddar became synonymous with art patronage and philanthropy.
—Kai Freeze
The unofficial title of ‘most expensive work of modern Indian art’ is held by Amrita Shergill’s 1937 painting ‘The Storytellers’, which sold for Rs 61.8 crore at the Sacrosan Art auction in New Delhi in September 2023. That’s the Catalan banana—and change.
Do you know?
Artist Subodh Gupta, famous for creating his huge artworks from hundreds of steel utensils used in the kitchen, has displayed the art of cooking and serving food on many occasions and sometimes even makes eating a part of his work.
From the pages of India Today
Issue (English): May 31, 1995
Auction Houses:
brush with india
Last year, Indian buyers flocked to London for the first auction of contemporary art because the estimated prices for Husain’s work were much lower than in India.
Sotheby’s realized the market potential for Indian art during its auction in India in 1992. “Our sales in this section surprised us. Whatever we had, 82 percent was sold.” —Madhu Jain.
First auction held in Mumbai
● 2023: Abhishek Poddar’s art and photography museum opens in Bengaluru
Amrita Shergill’s painting ‘The Storytellers’ (1937) sold for Rs 61.8 crore in Saffron Art Auction (September, 2023)
SH sold for Rs 51.75 crore. Raza’s ‘Gestation’ at Pundolage auction (September, 2023)
How far did the canvas extend?
● 1995: In June, Sotheby’s auctioned contemporary Indian art from the Hurwitz collection in New York.
● 1995: Christie’s sale of 20th century Indian art in London in December
● 2000: Establishment of Indian art auction houses Osian and Sacroan Art.
● 2008: The first India Art Fair (originally ‘Art Summit’) in New Delhi, then becomes an annual event.
● 2010: Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, the first private museum showcasing modern and contemporary Indian art, opens in Delhi.
● 2013: Christie’s holds its first contemporary art auction in Mumbai
● 2015: Sotheby’s opens its Indian office, Taj