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You could call it a clearance sale. A private collector,who does not wish to be named,is selling off his entire art collection at the Ashish Balram Nagpal Gallery in Mumbai. Some of the best works of Chintan Upadhyay,Sanjeev Sonpimpare,Julius Macwan,Dilip Dhore,Vishal Tondon and Ganga Khadakia are now available at around 67 per cent of their market price. Upadhyays current asking price at a Christies auction site for an oil on canvas is around R 8.83 lakh. Macwan,on the other hand,fetches between R 80,000 and R 8 lakh depending on the size of the work.
It is sale time for art galleries,which are preparing for the new financial year by offering several artwork from their existing stock at discounted prices. For smaller galleries,sales are also a means to prepare for the lean summer months ahead when Delhis art world almost comes to a stop. For collectors looking out for bargain deals,this is the time to scour the art galleries for a find.
Affordable does not mean low quality. Ashish Nagpal of the eponymous Mumbai gallery says,I stand by the quality of the works up for grabs. You can check out these works at http://www.ashishbalramnagpal.com. At Gallery Joie at the MGF Metropolitan Mall in Delhi,pocket-friendly artwork are on offer this time by up-and-coming names. Among the 12 artists here are Ranadip Das,whose mainstay are paintings of boats and seascapes,Dibyendu Bhadras works featuring tragic clowns and Hyam Kanus invigorating horses. In an art world where even fresh graduates price their works upwards R 1 lakh,the collection at Gallery Joie starts at R 5,000,though several pieces are available for R 1 lakh .
We had been thinking of an affordable art exhibition,since Ive noticed people currently dont want to spend too much on art, says Priya Khanna,owner of Gallery Joie. The response to this show has been greater than our exhibitions of senior and expensive artists. Khanna adds that professionals,middle-income groups and collectors have responded to the show.
Noida-based gallery An Yahh positions itself as a venue for affordable art only.
We plan to open a chain of art stores that will promote art from a stable of artists; currently there are 15 of them. We want to be seen as a brand that most people can afford,for their homes and offices, says Ashish Sethi,the promoter of An Yahh. At this gallery,the art is priced from R 6,000 to R 1 lakh for a large canvas. The artists range from Jeshu Nag,whose painting of a white bird flying over a closed door is priced at R 28,000. An Yahhs next store is coming up in South Extension in April.
Even at Latitude 28,one of Delhis most respected galleries,the thrust is on budget art. The gallery not only promotes young talent,it also enables middle-income collectors to buy artwork. The gallery currently has works by Rajesh Ram,a young Delhi-based artist. His sculpture of a heart pierced by multiple arrows is priced at R 55,000,and is a great pun on puppy love letters since its is made up of pencils and note-books. Other works to watch out for are Baroda-based Sujith SNs watercolours and Dilip Chobisas minimal mixed media works that evoke a sense of loss. Both are priced at R 25,000. These artists are doing cutting edge work and have been placed in collections like the Saatchi Art Collection,early in their career, says Bhavna Kakar of Latitude 28.
First uploaded on: 04-03-2011 at 01:50 IST
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