Indian art market confidence up

Indian art market confidence up by 10% in the last 6 months.

The overall ArtTactic Indian Art Market Confidence Indicator increased by 10% between May and October 2012, and is currently standing at 57 (up from 52).

The Confidence Indicator for the market remains unchanged at 71, while the confidence in the Contemporary Indian art market is up 12% from 39 to 44. Although still below the 50 level, the Expectation Indicator for the Indian Contemporary art market stands at 53, signalling a positive outlook for this market in the next 6 months.

For the Modern Indian market, 29% of the experts believe the market will go up in the next 6 months (compared to 30% in May 2012), 60% believe the market will remain flat (70% in May 2012), and 11% believe the market will fall back. Although 41% of the experts feel that the Indian Modern art market has recovered, or will do so within the next 12 months, 33% of the experts believe the market will need at least need two more years before a broader recovery will take place.

For the Contemporary Indian art market, 25% of the experts believe the market will go up (10% in May 2012), 52% believe the market will remain flat (down from 82% in May 2012) and 23% of the experts believe the market will fall (up from 8% in May 2012). This signals that a quarter of the experts believe the Indian contemporary art market will see a positive development in the next 6 months. With the Kochi Biennale in December 2012 and the India Art Fair taking place in February 2013, there are some major international events that could put the Indian contemporary art market back on collectors’ agendas in the months to come.

Also with the Chinese contemporary art market showing signs of slowing down considerably since Spring 2011, it is likely that collectors' attention will start to gradually shift elsewhere, and we believe Indian contemporary art will slowly start to regain some of the lost ground relative to its neighbours.


This article was originally published in ARTTACTIC - an online art research magazine
http://www.arttactic.com/item/524-indian-art-market-confidence-survey-november-2012.html?Itemid=102

Fall in art prices – artists follow the affordable art route

The market in 2011 has not been very favourable for Indian art. After the euphoria that existed in 2006, the prices of Indian artists have mellowed down. Both modern and contemporary artists have shown a falling trend. For instance, there has been a 20% drop in price of Raza’s paintings (source: Art trust).
Artists however have adopted a new strategy to make sure that their art is still affordable to the public. There is a noticeable two-fold strategy they are following:

Artist are creating smaller format works and reducing their per square feet prices a bit. The combination makes sure the works are affordable and does not hurt their overall market price (in terms of square feet).

The other strategy to provide the public with affordable art is to move to the use of pen / pencil mediums rather than acrylic or oil as they can justify the lower prices. Most of these are done on paper, which again is a relatively inexpensive material.

This is a win-win situation and a quite innovative one at that. Art lovers get to buy their favourite and/or renowned artists at lower rates than the usual canvases. This also makes art more affordable to a larger base and helps bring in new collectors wanting to possess an artwork. On the other hand, this strategy helps the artist increase their fan base and keep their tillers ringing. It also encourages innovation in their works in terms of subjects.

I think now is the time to make purchases of renowned artists, as they may not be this affordable a time later. It’s a good chance to possess some previously unaffordable signatures and names.