Millennial Buyers Reshape Art-scape

New galleries, art fairs, social media, and a new class of buyers are propping up the market.

- Neeta Lal

SIMONE MODY, 25, a Mumbai-based brand strategist, has been collecting art for three years now. Her diverse portfolio includes everything from paintings to sculptures, photographs, ceramics and other collectibles. Her collection includes works by artists such as M.V. Dhurandhar, Ramgopal Vijayvargiya, K.H. Ara, K.K. Hebbar, Austrian artist Walter Langhammer and Sarah Bahbah, an Australian artist of Palestinian descent, among others. "I invest in art that speaks to me and tells a story. The purchases are sporadic, though. Sometimes I may buy three-four pieces in a year; sometimes, none at all," says the London School of Economics alumnus.

For six years, Arjun Agarwal, 37, a Bengaluru-based entrepreneur has been collecting paintings, textiles and lithographs with a "point of view". For him it's not about how "good" the piece looks but the creative process behind it. "It's important for me to know about the artist before I buy his work — why and how he made the piece, and what he's trying to say. I pick the brains of the gallerist and if possible the artist himself to understand what I’m getting into," shares Agarwal. His favourites include Jangarh Singh Shyam, Baiju Parthan, Laxma Goud, Riyas Komu, Shanthamani M. and Joydeb Roaja.

New Class Of Buyers

Not long ago, most art buyers in India were deep-pocketed businessmen or industrialist families who snapped up blue-chip artists, including M.F. Husain, Amrita Shergill, Raja Ravi Verma and S.H. Raza, at rarefied auctions or through close-knit arty cliques.