'Indian art market set for major boom'

Indian art market is growing at the rapid pace of 30-35 per cent annually touching the 1500 crore mark and is expected to witness a boom in the future, say international experts in the field.Speaking during the first Indian Art Summit, experts predicted that the boom of the Indian art market was because of the interest shown by new buyers seeking art investment for long term gains."Indian investors have moved up the art market in a very short time compared to their European counterparts. Indian art is very investable and every year new buyers are coming forward and are surpassing the older ones," said Philip Hoffman, Chief Executive, Fine Art Fund UK during his presentation at the Art Summit on the 'Commerce of Art'.He said around 1500 crore Indian art market remained volatile despite a fast growth and added that investors should seek advice from experts before putting their money on any work."The rise in the prices of the art will soon make art one of the most priced luxurious commodities and would be accessible to the super rich people only," Hoffman predicted.He pointed out that along with India the art markets in Middle East, China and Russian also have a promising future.Similarly talking in the panel discussion 'The Commerce of Art', Dr Hugo Weihe, Christie's International Director for Asian art said, "It is remarkable to be a young artist in todays' India. With the mixing of cultures it interesting to see the crossover effects on the artists and their work." With the new interest being shown by the young buyers who look at the art not from a collectors point of view but from the eye of an investor looking for long term gain. Commenting on the quality of Indian art, Hoffman said, "Regular spenders on art work are looking at Indian and Chinese contemporary art instead of spending their money on artists from other countries because they are getting quality work at a much cheaper price." The long history of art patronage in India has continued to sustain the Indian art which has not been the case with Western art collectors, said Henry Howard Sneyd, Deputy Chairman of Sotheby."Compared to the America, Chinese and Indian diaspora have continued to sustain and collect art work while the West remained blind to the rich art heritage of these countries," he said.Sneyd, however, felt that the contemporary artists like Husain, Souza and new but promising artists like Subodh Gupta have completely changed the Indian art scenario. The new artists are very global in their art expressions."A Subodh Gupta's art work is not necessarily Indian. It can be from any part of the world. Indian contemporary art is no longer 'foreign' to art collectors from Western countries," he added.