Indian art at home on canvas

Contemporary painters from India see a change in scenery, as buyers are ready to spend millions to own a piece of a fast-growing market

The Forbes list for 2007 brought an end to Japan's 20-year reign as home to Asia's largest number of richest people.

As many as 14 Indians have joined the desirable club this year, raising the net worth of the country's billionaires by about $90 billion (Dh331 billion). India is making its mark in every sphere and art is no exception.

Christine Hughes, a British expatriate who lives in Mumbai and runs a medium-sized art gallery, says: "It helps because Indians generally have a mob mentality. If one affluent person has acquired a Husain, the other one has to. A lot of my rich clients are really not interested in art at all, but a great piece of coveted art on the wall is the thing to have. I am not complaining."

Global player
That may be a small reason, but as southern Asia continues to consolidate its position as a player in global economics and politics, its art is increasingly sought after. Indian art is already exhibited in major collections across the Western world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

How big the art scene emanating from India is becomes obvious when you consider these figures.

In 2005, at a Christie's auction, Tyeb Mehta's Mahisasura sold for nearly $1.6 million (Dh5.8 million), and marked the first instance of a contemporary Indian painting crossing the $1 million (Dh3.7 million) barrier. Since then, some other artists have joined the million-dollar club, among them F.N. Souza and S.H. Raza.

At Sotheby's, an untitled canvas from the early 1960s - juxtaposing two women with a lamp, a symbol frequently found in Husain's works - was sold for $486,400 (Dh1786,434), double the estimated price, to an Indian private collector.

People were not always willing to pay these sums. As recently as 2000, Husain's work would have sold for less than $16,000 (Dh58,761).

Outside influence
The NRIs (non-resident Indians) are largely responsible for starting the movement. They left India in the Sixties and Seventies and got nostalgic. By placing a stunning piece of Indian art on their wall in Baltimore, they felt reconnected to their roots.

India's love of art has always been varied and rich. My father always told me the first time he ever saw a Picasso was at the Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai, way back in 1947. Some 40-or-so works of Picasso were introduced to the Indian public in that display.

The first contemporary art phase sprang from the Bengal school, which was made up of the nationalist artists who were fighting for Indian visual autonomy even as the country was gearing up for independence.

These artists - among them Rabindranath Tagore and Nandalal Bose - were displaced by the Bombay Progressive Group (which included Husain), who were the second-generation post-Independence modern artists.

Regional groups, including the Baroda group, branched out from there. The artists who are most successful in terms of value are from the Shantiniketan and Delhi schools.

Of course, works of artists who have mirrored India's efforts for identity are among the most coveted.

Experts believe the billion-dollar art sales generated now will be bolstered by India's steady economic growth. They predict a huge rise that will declare Indian art as one of the country's biggest income generators of all time.

Devjani Cox is a UAE-based interior stylist and writer