Meltdown hits art world

NEW DELHI: Buoyant not far back, the Indian art market has been hit hard by the slowdown of the economy. Art dealers say that even top artists like M F Husain and F N Souza are selling for about 30%-40% less than what they cost a year ago.
"A Husain work, which would otherwise sell for Rs 1.5 crore, is now available for anything between Rs 90 lakh and Rs 1 crore.That���s a drop of almost 40%. Another biggie F N Souza's prices are also down by 30%-40%," says Sharan Apparao, owner of Apparao Galleries, Chennai. Souza���s base price is reportedly Rs 1 crore.
Sunil Gautam, director, India Art Summit '08, agrees. "There has been a considerable drop in the prices of artwork. Galleries, too, are ready to make deals with buyers. Artists also have brought down their prices," he says.
World art markets were affected by the economic slowdown as early as Sept-Oct 2008. But the Indian canvas is feeling the impact only now. The Indian art market is estimated to be worth Rs 1,500 crore. Once a playground only for the super rich, it had gradually become a great avenue of investment even for the upper middle class.
In the last few years, it grew at 30-35% annually making it the fourth most buoyant art market in the world. But the downturn has played spoilsport though the demand for rare works like Ravi Verma���s remains high.
Experts feel that the art market slump could last a couple of years. The prospect has forced artists to devise ways of coping with the situation. Well-known painter Anjolie Ela Menon says most artists are coping.
"Some are possibly managing on their (considerable) savings and assets. But they will start feeling the pinch in 2009," she says.
Galleries too are feeling the heat. Delhi-based Renu Modi's gallery Espace has seen a 20% to 30% sales dip in the secondary market in the last few months. "There's a slowdown on shows. Artists are careful about expenditure nowadays. Many are doing away with glossy catalogues to begin with. Thankfully, the mad rush for computer-generated prints has also come down," she says.
Chennai's Apparao Galleries, booked with ���sold-out��� shows a few months ago, is also feeling the heat. "There's a 75% drop in sales," says Sharan. Buyers are hunting for deals and distress sales, with many bargain hunters in the fray.