After the correction in the art market

Economic Times
24 Aug, 2007,
by Ashoke Nag
kolkata: After the correction in the art market in the past 3-6 months, trade watchers are reassessing the health of the sector and the future trends in the coming months.

To begin with, the topmost rung of artists, who have catapulted to astronomical levels, have stabilised on the price front for the time being. In the same breath, artists in the middle rung, who had jumped beyond bounds between 2005 and early 2007, have either slipped to or stagnated as far as tags go. The action seems to be building up on the young artists in the range of Rs 2-5 lakh and even up to Rs 10 lakh.However, art specialists also feel that the market may gradually bounce back if the auctions lined up at home and the September sales in New York come up with a spectacular showing.

“A strong demand has picked up for the younger artists. Not too many people are going for the senior lot at the moment except for the high quality works.This includes artists who were being lapped up like hot cakes at auctions. At the retail level, which is largely the gallery circuit, these names have slowed down to quite an extent. The price factor is the prime determinant.A change in the auction results in recent times in terms of the number of lots sold and a drop in the frequency of lots selling beyond the lower estimates has also impacted the prices of the reputed artists in the retail sphere,” an art market source told ET.

While stressing that the younger set of artists are attracting a great deal of buyers’ attention in the current scenario, the source said that older works of the well-known artists dating back to the 70s and 80s, if available, are still pieces that art hunters, both investors and collectors, pick up without batting an eyelid.“But, from the overall standpoint, it is the relatively young brand of artists, in the Rs 2-5 lakh band, who are moving very encouragingly. Some of the slightly higher priced names, in the bracket up to Rs 10 lakh, are also drawing buyers. Most of them have tied up with galleries which are positioning their works and promoting them.

However, in wake of the recent experience of a price adjustment in the market, the galleries will probably not encourage these artists to step up their prices without any rationale. Thus, one would expect around a 25-40% rise in their prices over the next one year,” the source said.The source said the changes in the art market could be short-lived if the coming auctions in the domestic scene and abroad turn out to bigger successes than the sales in the past few months.

The upcoming auctions in New York and one or two in India have all the potential to turn the market around. One should also not forget that the Indian art market is still growing on all fronts and has a long way to go. Prices of the big league of artists can also rise again if works by them are not in excessive supply.