THE ART OF INVESTMENT

Find out who and what is responsible for Indian art’s glory moment currently

At the moment the market for modern Indian art is very strong, with many new records being set at public auctions. There are a number of new collectors entering the market, all of whom are discerning and well educated or advised about what to acquire. These collectors are particular about factors such as condition, provenance, exhibition history and publication details, as well as freshness to the market, and are willing to pay a premium when an artwork comes with these boxes checked. Major international exhibitions of 20thcentury Indian artists like S.H. Raza at the Centre Pompidou in Paris and M.F. Husain presented by the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), at a show coinciding with the Venice Biennale have also catalysed new, global interest in this category.

At auction, apart from the best works of modern masters like M.F. Husain, F.N. Souza, S.H. Raza, Tyeb Mehta and V.S. Gaitonde, collectors are looking for stand out works by 'second generation modernists'. This list includes but is not limited to senior artists such as Arpita Singh, Gulammohammed Sheikh, Nasreen Mohamedi, Bhupen Khakhar, Ganesh Pyne and Rameshwar Broota.