The auction in aid of the World Wide Fund for Nature held at New Delhi was a tryst with truth for many, especially for the manipulators in art. The auction was conducted with extreme propriety by Tom Craig of Sotheby's, who took no money for his services, and the prices reflected the true taste of the art market.Among the big names of contemporary art, Ganesh Pyne once again topped the list. His two jottings went for Rs 90,000, while even smaller drawings from the Mahabharata were bid for up to Rs 85,000, which is a range of Rs 90 to Rs 166 per sq cm for drawings. M F Husain, with the bidding going up to Rs 5 lakh for a medium sized canvas, fetched a price of Rs 111.30 per sq cm. V S Gaitonde fetched a price of Rs 60.28 per sq cm for a roller and ink work on paper. S H Raza, with three works in the sale, fetched between Rs 57.70 and Rs 173.60 per square cm. A Manjit Bawa canvas fetched Rs 53.19 per sq cm, while a Ram Kumar canvas fetched Rs 26.5 sq cm. These are basically prices one expects on secondarysales of these artists today.
Among the realistic artists, Bikash Bhattacharya fetched Rs 22.47 per sq cm for an oil on canvas and Sanjay Bhattacharya got Rs 24.45 per sq cm for a good work. This too does not surprise one. Satish Gujaral, for a large mixed media work, fetched a price of Rs 15.86 per sq cm, while a drawing by Sunil Das fetched Rs 10.67 per sq cm. For an excellent drawing of a dancer, Jatin Das fetched Rs 13.47 per sq cm. A Jogen Choudhary drawing fetched Rs 20.50 per sq cm. Krishen Khanna's drawings ranged between Rs 9.80 to Rs 39 per sq cm for a self portrait.
Among the younger artists, Deepak Shinde's large canvas fetched Rs 1.10 lakh, Arpana Caur's two works got Rs 75,000 and Rs 70,000 respectively, Chitrevan Mazumdar got Rs 65,000 and Prabhakar Kolte fetched Rs 65,000 and Rs 60,000.
Among the old masters, while a small Ravi Varma oil on canvas fetched Rs 2,122.88 per sq cm, a Rabindranath Tagore drawing went for as high as Rs 732.60 per sq cm. An Abanindranath watercolour fetched Rs535.70 per sq cm. Hemen Mazumdar drawing went at Rs 234.38 per sq cm, while a Benode Bihari Mukherjee water colour fetched Rs 189 per sq cm. Works of Jamini Roy ranged between Rs 51.78 sq cm to Rs 131.87 per sq cm, though the actual range is possibly between Rs 90 per sq cm and Rs 130.
What do we learn from these prices? First, there is not much to substantiate the belief that a dead artist necessarily commands a higher price than a living one. The big names among both these categories tend to share common ground between them, except for the odd work or two. Secondly, the range in prices bid for different works of the same artist makes it absolutely clear that the buyer pays the price for the quality of the work and not the name. Still, there are discrepancies. A Souza that was bid for up to Rs 1 lakh at the auction had a look alike that was painted by the artist some 12 years later which sold for half the price from a Delhi gallery recently. Both works were authentic ones.
This reflects the unreliabilityof prices quoted by artists and collectors for particulars works. They appear to reflect expectations rather than actual worth. The reality is close to the prices bid for different works at the Delhi auction. It appears that considerable over-pricing is the norm today, though there are artists like Ghulam and Nilima Sheikh who have been very careful not to overprice their work. As a result the prices at which their works went were about the estimated minimum. Perhaps more artists should follow their example.
A close look at this auction shows our art market to be relatively stable, and the buying based on the merit of the work rather than the autograph on it. It is a healthy sign as long as artists and collectors restrain their desire for undue profit. A number of artists who have overpriced their work should let it go at its correct price for charity if for nothing else.
The sale organised by WWF and Art Consult has been conducted transparently. It has helped us understand the realities of the price andworth of different works and one hopes it will prompt both artists and secondary sellers to have a more realistic assessment of the value of the works they put up for sale, something they did not do this time. Still, the organisation of the sale and the manner in which it was conducted has helped to clarify the myth and reality of what we call the contemporary art market today.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
