While the art market is on the road to self-correction, 2017, which has seen 22 auctions by 15 auction houses, has been particularly weak in terms of market performance of Indian contemporary art

There’s an interesting fact related to artist Bharti Kher which reflects the recent decline in investor interest in contemporary Indian art. Known for the use of the ‘bindi’ as a central motif in her works, Kher’s Train’D To Kill 1, which sold for Rs96 lakh at auction house Saffronart’s 21 September sale, is the most expensive Indian contemporary artwork to be sold in an auction thus far this year. In 2013, this leading artist had an individual turnover of Rs12.7 crore from five pieces, higher than the total recorded sale from 183 Indian contemporary artworks this year, Rs12.63 crore.

The lack of confidence in Indian contemporary art was reflected most strongly at Melbourne-based auction house Mossgreen’s 17 September sale of 80 contemporary works belonging to British collector Frank Cohen. Of the 19 works by Indian artists on offer, 14 went unsold. The five artists who found buyers were Subodh Gupta, Thukral & Tagra, Jagannath Panda, L.N. Tallur and Reena Saini Kallat.

“Works by most of these artists witnessed a sharp price rise following the mid 2000s, fuelling a disastrous speculative wave that had been initiated by heavily flawed art investment funds and (which) would eventually lead to a drastic slash in valuation,” said Arvind Vijaymohan, chief executive officer of Artery India, an art market advisory and intelligence firm.

Agreeing with Vijaymohan, Gaurav Bhatia, managing director, Sotheby’s India, noted that lack of institutional backing and an artificial inflation of prices (about a decade ago), has resulted in a period of uncertainty for Indian contemporary art.

While the art market is on the road to self-correction, 2017, which has seen 22 auctions—including those of contemporary Indian art—by 15 auction houses, has been particularly weak in terms of market performance of Indian contemporary art. According to Artery India data, in the same period (Jan-Sep) in 2013, 333 artworks sold for a total of Rs39.9 crore, and in 2015, 175 for Rs32.9 crore. In 2015, according to Vijaymohan, the focus was on quality, unlike this year, when there has been a shortage of good artwork on offer. The downcast sentiment and average quality inventory fed off each other, resulting in the sluggish growth.

Top five Indian contemporary artwork sold in 2017

1. Train’D To Kill 1by Bharti Kher

Train’D To Kill 1by Bharti Kher. Sold for 89.06 lakh.

2. Untitled by Subodh Gupta

Untitled by Subodh Gupta. Sold for Rs89.06 lakh, Mossgreen, 17 September 2017

3. Sat Samunder Par (9) by Subodh Gupta

Sat Samunder Par by Subodh Gupta. Sold for Rs71.04 lakh, Saffronart, 6-7 June 2017.

4. Starry Night after V. G by Bharti Kher

Starry Night after V. G by Bharti Kher. Sold for Rs69.44 lakh, Sotheby’s, 16 March 2017.

5. Urban Animal (Horse) by Nataraj Sharma

Urban Animal (Horse) by Nataraj Sharma. Sold for Rs57.60 lakh, Saffronart, 21 September 2017.

However, Bhatia is confident that the market will pick up. Although at a nascent stage, he believes the market is correcting itself, backed by a more mature base of customers.“Indian contemporary art is finding a strong base in a younger generation. We are also seeing institutions, public and private, supporting this development,” he said.

First Published: Thu, Oct 05 2017. 02 18 AM IST

Source : http://www.livemint.com/Consumer/ytpMX3jUiH29hMFNobnzXP/A-bad-year-for-contemporary-Indian-art.html

The post A bad year for contemporary Indian art first appeared on Indian Art News.

NEW YORK | In the movies, the art auction is invariably portrayed as a glamorous event involving a hushed room full of people who raise paddles to bid on priceless works of art — a gathering of the advantaged engaged in a rite of class and privilege.

Now, as the art market struggles along with the broader economy, you might be wondering whether there’s room for you to start your own collection.

While auction houses such as Sotheby’s remain too pricey for most people, it shouldn’t be difficult finding works you love at summer art fairs and local galleries, where prices can start at a few hundred dollars.

The key is to know what you’re getting into and that the value of art works can rise and fall dramatically and unpredictably. That’s true even in rarefied circles where five-figure price tags are the norm.

“Art is not liquid, like gold or corn. It’s not quantifiable,” said Allan Schwartzman, an art adviser based in New York City and former curator of the New Museum of Contemporary Art. “Art as an investment is not a wise strategy for collecting.”

Sotheby’s, for instance, is expected to record about $2.5 billion in auction sales this year, down from $5 billion last year, according to Craig Hallum Capital Group in Minneapolis. The drop is the result of lower prices and jittery sellers waiting to put items on the block.

Those are trends that are being reflected in the broader art market, said George Sutton, a Craig Hallum analyst. So before you start buying, here’s a strategy for building a collection.

Before you even think about buying, take time to train your eye.

Find out about local art fairs and make a habit of visiting galleries and museums. The exposure will refine your tastes and ability to discern what you like. This learning process is vital because the works that jump out at you as a novice likely won’t be the same ones you count as favorites later on.

“It’s just like one’s taste for wine or one’s ear for music,” Mr. Schwartzman said. “One’s eye for art evolves, too.”

There’s no rule on how long you should take to hone your eye, but Mr. Schwartzman usually advises new collectors to wait at least six months.

As you begin visiting museums and galleries, forge relationships with those who can educate you.

Don’t be shy about talking to dealers at galleries. Their ultimate goal is to sell, but they can still offer valuable insight about the works on display and the greater art scene. To find a gallery near you, check the listings in the art section of your local newspaper or visit www.artinfo.com/galleryguide.

Museums often have discussion groups for collectors, and it’s worth seeking out curators if you can.

“They’re the ones who have the least financial interest and the broadest viewpoint,” Mr. Schwartzman said.

If you can’t make it to Sotheby’s in New York, check out the auction house’s online catalog. People are welcome to call or e-mail a specialist who can give detailed background on listed items. Even if you’re not sure you’re ready to buy, talking with a specialist is a way to get your feet wet.

Hiring an art adviser is another option, but it’s usually best-suited for those looking to spend large sums of money. It’s probably not necessary for making purchases of a couple thousand dollars.

Besides, there’s probably someone with knowledge of art in your network of friends who’s willing to take you around to galleries.

The art market is fickle, so turning a profit shouldn’t be your driving concern in deciding what to buy.

“It’s something you’re presumably going to be living with, so it’s important that you love it,” said Helen Allen, executive director of Ramsay Fairs, which runs the Affordable Art Fair in New York City. “It should be something that will keep your interest and grow with you.”

With that in mind, work out a budget for how much you want to spend. You don’t have to be a millionaire to get a collection started. At the Affordable Art Fair in New York City, works start as low as $65 and come from notable galleries around the world. Remember that prints, photographs and watercolors are generally less expensive than oil paintings.

Once you decide how much to spend, figure out where you’ll display the art and what would be appropriate for that space.

Most people buy their art from galleries, although auction houses can be good for specific pieces. Sotheby’s might seem too rich for beginners, but the auction house has more affordable pieces starting at around $5,000, too. Art fairs are ideal for seeing a variety of work in one place, but be wary of the tendency to make impulse buys.

“One should avoid the souvenir syndrome,” Mr. Schwartzman said.

The less formal, outdoor presentation of an art fair might not show the work in the same light that you’d see it in a gallery either, he said.

Before you buy, do your homework on the piece you’re interested in. Ask the dealer who else is collecting the artist’s works and where else the pieces are being exhibited. Also, check if the artist has been written about in journals such as Art in America, Artnews and Artforum.

The more established the artist, the more likely it is the work will maintain or grow in value.

The post Buyers collect art they love first appeared on Indian Art News.

Is there a bubble in the art market? Sales of high-end works defy expectations amid an expanding pool of oil-rich buyers.

NEW YORK (Fortune) — Luxury these days is a tale of two markets: consumers continue to snap up high-priced Louis Vuitton bags even as they balk at paying full price for Coach handbags. The same can be said of demand for works of art.
Recent auctions of high-end art on both sides of the Atlantic have been a huge success. The sales, fueled in part by rich oil barons, have defied expectations that a shaky global economy would curb demand.
In London, works by Claude Monet and Jeff Koons fetched stratospheric prices, with Monet’s water lilies masterpiece, “Le Bassin aux Nympheas” selling for $80.5 million last week – well above its $47 million high estimate. In May, Francis Bacon’s “Triptych, 1976” set the record for most expensive contemporary work at auction when it sold for $86.3 million at Sotheby’s in New York.
Trendy categories like post-WWII and contemporary art have seen triple-digit price gains since 2002, but the boom was supposed to end after the credit crisis hit last summer. Instead, buoyant sales are just the latest example of a market that seems impervious to the downturn driven by climbing oil prices, a floundering financial sector, and a looming U.S. recession.
One reason the auctions are still buzzing is the influx of commodity-rich buyers who chase trophy works and push prices to ever-loftier heights. Roman Abramovich, a London-based Russian oligarch, reportedly bought two of the top works at the New York sales in May: the $86.3 million Bacon triptych and Lucien Freud’s “Benefits Supervisor Sleeping,” which sold for $33.6 million, making Freud the priciest living artist.
Meanwhile, the Al-Thani family of Qatar was the reported buyer last year of Mark Rothko’s “White Center (Yellow, Pink, and Lavender on Rose)” for $72.8 million. It was the highest price for a post-war work sold at auction at the time – a title now held by Bacon’s “Triptych.”
Signs of softness
This trophy-lot frenzy, however, has obscured some underlying weakness.
“We have two markets going on,” says Ian Peck, CEO of New York-based Art Capital Group, which provides financing against art assets. “There’s the super-rich market, which is very active right now. Then there’s the middle market, which is soft and patchy.”
According to research firm ArtTactic, works priced at more than $1 million made up about 70% of the contemporary art auction volume this year. Lower-priced pieces, which are offered by the auction houses at day sales rather than at the high-profile evening auctions, were more likely to sell below their top estimates or to fail to sell.
This softness shows that middle-market buyers are balking at rapidly escalating prices. For example, this week Christie’s featured six works by Damien Hirst at its day sale in London. Two didn’t sell, including a medicine cabinet that was estimated at $690,000 to $880,000. In its last auction four years ago, the Hirst piece fetched $212,000, nearly three times its top estimate.
The high-end market, on the other hand, has been resilient thanks to a buyer’s pool that is bigger and more global than ever. As recently as the late 1980s – when Japanese buyers bid up Impressionist art – American and European collectors were the only other major players, says Olivier Camu of Christie’s in London. When the Japanese economy faltered, so did the art market, and prices fell precipitously in the early 1990s.
“The reason the market is doing so well is because it’s so much deeper and broader,” says Camu. Big bidders now also hail from the former Soviet Union, the Middle East, and Asia.
With growing demand for a limited supply, quality has been able to command record prices. The $80.5 million Monet, for example, was a rare masterpiece in top condition whose companion paintings are in museum or private collections or, in one instance, damaged.
Still, observers question whether even the trophy-art market can continue to soar as economic conditions deteriorate. “We think if there is a shift it could happen quickly,” says Peck. “It would take one or two major pieces to do poorly, and that could trigger a chain reaction. It’s a very neurotic sort of market.”

The post Oil profits help art market defy gravity first appeared on Indian Art News.

LONDON — There are enough “recession-proof,” super-rich buyers to push soaring prices for the best works of art still higher, experts predict, but the picture is less rosy at the lower end of the market.
And in a world where perception is everything, values for even the world’s most sought-after artists could come back down to Earth with a bump if confidence were to slide.
Christie’s and Sotheby’s, the world’s two top auctioneers, have just completed a series of summer sales in London that raised more than $1-billion, underlining how resilient the top end of the market is despite growing economic gloom.
Records tumbled and bidding was aggressive in the sales room, such as last week when a Monet water lily fetched the equivalent of $81.4-million Canadian, doubling the previous high for the French master.
Christie’s raised $558-million overall during the London summer season of impressionist, modern, post-war and contemporary art, while Sotheby’s has raised $454-million with just the relatively minor contemporary day sale to go.
“At the high end of the market there is a combination of extreme wealth and a lack of alternative assets for these people,” said Anders Petterson, founder of ArtTactic, which tracks confidence in the art market.
“Auction houses are appealing to largely recession-proof buyers, including wealthy individuals from the Middle East, Russia and India.”
But falling share prices, inflationary pressures and rising costs of oil appear to be taking their toll on the middle market.
At the Phillips de Pury contemporary art sale on Sunday, one-third of lots on offer failed to sell and the auction total of around $49.5-million fell short of its low pre-sale estimate.
“It’s evident … that the high end of the market (over $1 million) is currently operating independently from the lower price segments,” the latest ArtTactic survey concluded.
Best art on show
The sharp rise in values for high-quality art has encouraged owners to part with their best paintings and sculptures.
“It can be good news for the art market if some people are hurting because of exposure to other assets, because it gets them to put works on the market they probably would have preferred to keep,” said Ben Crawford, chief marketing officer at MutualArt.com, an online art information service.
He, like Petterson, sees values for the best works of art continuing to rise, and takes issue with the theory put forward that prices could be heading for a fall.
At the back of people’s minds is the art market crash of the early 1990s, and comparisons have been drawn between the bubble created by Japanese buying then and aggressive Russian collecting today.
“There’s an argument that there are a few rogue billionaires propping up the market, but that is clearly not the case,” Crawford said.
While generally confident, ArtTactic’s Petterson warned that psychology plays a big part in a market where the perceived value of brushstrokes on a piece of canvas was everything.
“The problem is when people in the market start to question and become uncertain,” he said.
“There could be a political or economic jolt that is so dramatic that it distracts people at the high end of the market, and it is like a house of cards.”

The post High art prices may disguise malaise first appeared on Indian Art News.

The post Off the wall? A globalised art market defies the doomsayers first appeared on Indian Art News.