Economic Times: Bengal artists make a splash overseas : ASHOKE NAG
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2007(http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1593800.cms)
KOLKATA: Works of emerging and promising Bengal artists are increasingly being exhibited in shows overseas. There is a combination of factors that is fuelling this trend. One of the primary reasons could be the contemporary style and subjects of these painters, which may appeal to audiences overseas and hence galleries are inclined to showcase them.
“The content of the paintings are in tune with the present era. At the same time, these are fresh talents and their prices are still affordable compared to the senior artists. The works also enjoy the benefit of being unexposed to a wide range of collectors abroad who are drawn to add the artworks to their collections. Together with budding names, there are other artists in this category who have worked for 10-15 years and have reached a certain level of maturity. They are now gaining recognition and visibility,” an art market source told ET.
Let’s look at some of the artists who have exhibited overseas in recent times or are headed to do so soon. Tapas Konar, who received the Lalit Kala national award sometime back, has done a solo show in Netherlands and is winning approval as a mature artist. In the same breath, Shukla Poddar has seen solo shows in Tokyo and Korea and has received a scholarship from the Tokyo University of Art.
Aditya Basak had a show in New York in 1999. In fact, Mr Basak, who won the national award in 1986, has been adding brand equity as an artist for the last 2-3 years.
Samit Dey, who won the Charles Wallace award, has found his works in solo shows at Germany and one in the UK. In step with these artists, Adip Datta, also a Charles Wallace winner, had a successful showing in Turkey and has shows coming up New York and London.
At the same time, Samir Roy, a national award winner in 1988 and Samindranath Mazumdar are slotted for shows in London. Devraj Goswami, another Charles Wallace awardee, also sports a show in the UK. Shahjahan, who lives and works out of Shantiniketan and was handed Canada’s Elizabeth Greenshield Foundation grant, has participated in shows in Singapore and Denmark and, while Samit Das has had group shows in New York and Germany. A solo Shahjahan show is also expected to be unveiled in New York in the coming months. In tandem, Eleena Banik boasts of solo shows in London, Moscow and Glasgow.
Other artists in the emerging category who have been a part of overseas shows include Arindam Chatterjee, Pradip Rakshit, Paula Sengupta, Rathin Kanji, Bibekananda Santra and Debanjan Ray. Chandra Bhattacharjee, an established name, has witnessed quite a few overseas shows and is readying for one in London soon.
“These artists are gaining more acceptance in the international arena with these global shows. They are also maturing as artists and drawing respect back home. Sometimes, the influence of overseas art is creeping into their art. Veteran artists like Tyeb Mehta, Husain, Souza and Raza or seniors from Bengal such as Paritosh Sen, Ganesh Haloi, Jogen Chowdhury, Sakti Burman and Arun Bose have aimed to get their share of overseas exposure. That trend seems to be continuing,” the source said.
Economic Times: Abstract art splashes colour across the country: ASHOKE NAG
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2007
(http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1614510.cms)
KOLKATA: Exhibits of abstract art are definitely spurting in the country. By a rough estimate, there are at least 30-40 shows of this genre being staged countrywide every year.
For one, the buyers, including the younger lot, of Indian art, are increasingly maturing and reading more into the nuances of abstract art.
“There’s another factor which has played a role in triggering the growth of abstract shows. The prices swung by high-end abstract artists like VS Gaitonde, Ram Kumar, Jagdish Swaminathan, Akbar Padamsee and SH Raza are also impacting the exhibition scene in a major way,” a source told ET. Among the recent shows, a Prabhakar Kolte exhibit unfolded at Delhi’s Vadehra Art Gallery and was completely sold out.
Among the leading galleries, Bodhi Art is also doing abstract shows. Back in Kolkata, Chitrakoot Art Gallery presented a show by the young abstractionist Arindam Chatterjee at the Akar Prakar Gallery, which later travelled to the Tao Gallery in Mumbai, Chitrakoot also unveiled a show by the South Indian abstract painter Murukesan. While the Arindam Chatterjee show was fully sold out, the Murukesan exhibit was bought out by buyers to the extent of 50-60%.
At the same time, Aakriti Art Gallery in Kolkata came up with another abstract show, which featured names like MF Husain, SH Raza, Ram Kumar, Sunil De Amitabha Dhar, Yogendra Tripathi, Samindranath Mazumdar and Partha Shaw. All these artists were sold out during the exhibition.
Others across the country who have made a name in the abstract category of artists are Manish Pushkale, Adimoolam, Harshavardhan and Achutan Kudallur. “These names are picking up in demand all the time,” the source said. Of late, Gandhara Art Gallery also rolled out a show of abstractionists embracing names like Badhan Das, Prabhakar Kolte, Ganesh Haloi, Jayashree Chakravarty and John Tunsein.
Kolkata’s Akar Prakar is soon coming up with a show of South Indian abstractionists. The names will include Adimoolam, Viswanadhan, Achutan Kudallur, Pallaniappan, Gopinath & Akkitham Narayanan. The show will start by February-end.
“The demand for abstract art is related to the taste of young buyers, who are inclined toward this brand of art, which is non-figurative in nature. Abstract art provokes the viewers and potential buyers to read between the lines, colours and surface texture.
The audience, in that sense, participates in the content of the painting because the feelings and thoughts of the artist are conveyed through purely abstract language, which has to be fathomed,” the source said. While the price levels of the high-end artists range from Rs 50 lakh and touch the multi-crore level, the middle-level artists vary from Rs 5-20 lakh. The bracket below that is placed at Rs 1-5 lakh. The source said, the South abstract painters are still to find their optimum price levels.
Economic Times: Indian art biz rising in overseas buying
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 05
(http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1564797.cms)
KOLKATA: Business in Indian art overseas through the online route is visibly rising. A healthy mix of veteran and younger artists is being steadily picked up by foreign clients. The bigger names are of course there.
Among the high-end labels are artists like F N Souza, M F Husain, S H Raza, Jogen Chowdhury, Anjolie Ela Menon and Yusuf Arakkal among a few more names. Senior painters like Thota Vaikuntam and Akkitham Narayanan are also fancied by international buyers who place their orders online.
Incidentally, online inquiries for acquiring Indian art are pouring in from places like Germany, Italy, Spain, US, UK, Southeast Asia, Australia and France. In recent times, demand for this segment of art has also grown in Dubai and China.
"Inquries are swelling because of the burgeoning popularity of Indian art and the increasing numbers of Indian art exhibits abroad. The list of artists online that the foreign and Indian diaspora abroad is looking at is constantly expanding. From the standpoint of export turnover, the revenues churned out by Indian art via the online network could be in the region of Rs 100-odd crore which includes retail and auction sales," the source said.
There are a slew of younger generation painters who are attracting overseas buyers in the online slot, too. These include artists like Paresh Maity, T V Santosh, Sudhir Patwardhan, Jagannath Panda, Anjum Singh, Asim Purokayastha, Soumen Das, Sandip Daptari, Mithu Sen, Samindranath Majumdar, Baiju Parthan and P R Narvekar. In step are artists like Nupur Kundu, Veer Munshi, Apurva Desai and Ravi Kumar Kashi. Radhakrishnan's sculptures are also greatly in demand online among overseas buyers.
"In the online format, Kartick Chandra Pyne is in demand in European countries. Together with Husain and Raza, two other artists who are universally sought after are F N Souza and K G Subramanyan. Of late, there are strong inquiries for Paritosh Sen coming in from Singapore, while Husain and Ganesh Pyne are experiencing a growing market in Dubai. The young lots of artists are enjoying the maximum popularity in the US. Names like Amitabha Dhar and Partha Pratim Deb are drawing a fair deal of notice in the US. Inquiries are flowing in via the online avenue from both NRIs and mainstream foreigners," an art market source told ET.
While mainline foreigners form around 30% of the buyers, the NRIs make 70%. The quantum of foreigners has significantly shot up from just 2-5% around a year back. By a ballpark figure, the number of inquiries maturing into real deals has also risen to about 20% from a mere 5% sometime back.
"From the point of view of preferences for brands of paintings, a study shows that European buyers focus on classical, folksy and ethnic kind of works. In the same breath, US art collectors very often look for contemporary paintings including abstract creations. Southeast Asian customers are usually seen to be keener on figurative works," the source said.
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