tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72608472686175920592024-03-13T21:53:53.139-07:00Art AwaazExploring Contemporary Indian Art & MoreNitikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03559674890374830213noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7260847268617592059.post-67401882993482751342011-10-09T12:44:00.000-07:002011-10-09T12:44:36.185-07:00Updating Again! Spotted: Indian Art at the MET<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a long hiatus.. I have decided to start updating this blog again.</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
The MET is now featuring an exhibition on Indian Art titled "Mother India: The Goddess in Indian Painting". Below is an excerpt from the MET's website:</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
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<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #262626; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The goddess (</span></span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">devi</span></span></em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">) is both the source and the affirmation of life. In early Indian religions, this concept is deified in a variety of forms. While we lack a historical understanding of the quasi-magical-religious function of the earliest images of the female form on view in this exhibition, we identify them as goddesses.</span></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #262626; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A bit later, we witness the emergence of deified females who have identifiable roles associated with the protection of children and with the life-affirming powers of water. The former finds expression in goddesses who originally may have been devourers of children—that is, the bearers of disease. Over time some were placated and thus acquired more benign aspects. The enthroned goddess with a cornucopia and children, from northwestern India, represents this tradition.</span></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #262626; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A second association is with the creation of life. This female principle is expressed in a number of ways; as the bearer of life, we see the appearance of the cult of the </span></span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">yakshi</span></span></em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">—personified female nature spirits—who embody the fecundity and fertility of nature. They survive in sculptures from the early centuries </span></span><span class="small-caps" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-variant: small-caps; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">B.C.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and were appropriated into Buddhist and Jain worship about the first century </span></span><span class="small-caps" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-variant: small-caps; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A.D.</span></span></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #262626; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The other powerful expression of the goddess as the source of life in early India is the personification of the great rivers of the subcontinent. Three rivers of northern India—the Ganges, the Yamuna, and the now-lost Saraswati—were worshiped as some of the most ancient deities of India. Sri Gaja-Lakshmi, the benign goddess being bathed by a pair of elephants—a metaphor for the life-giving powers of the monsoons—emerged to denote auspiciousness, prosperity, and good fortune. Saraswati, revered by Hindus, Jains, and Buddhists alike as the embodiment of wisdom and knowledge, is one of the earliest goddesses to have cult images made in her honor. The Jain mother goddess Ambika embodies the maternal principal.</span></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #262626; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">About the sixth century a variety of early sources on </span></span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">devi</span></span></em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> in her myriad forms were brought together in the seminal text the </span></span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Devi Mahatmya</span></span></em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. Primarily devoted to narrating the origins of Durga and her relationship to the pantheon of male deities, the text represents Durga as the ultimate destroyer of demons. It also introduces the awesome forms that emerge from her being, Kali and Camumda, who give expression to Durga's terrible aspect, as do the seven </span></span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">matrikas</span></span></em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> (mothers).</span></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #262626; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The worship of the goddess continues to shape Hindu practice today, with Sri Lakshmi pouring down golden coins as its most popular expression.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2O62t_v3zHw/TpH5MJYNXYI/AAAAAAAAARA/drtfCzsmr9Y/s1600/MotherIndia_poster.ashx.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2O62t_v3zHw/TpH5MJYNXYI/AAAAAAAAARA/drtfCzsmr9Y/s320/MotherIndia_poster.ashx.jpeg" width="190" /></a></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #262626; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />
</div></div></div>Nitikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03559674890374830213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7260847268617592059.post-4290005309036533042010-05-02T19:56:00.001-07:002010-05-02T19:56:06.148-07:00Indian Art Goes Global<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The Hindu</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">April 20, 2010</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">On April 23, new works of Indian contemporary art will be auctioned at London's prestigious Saatchi Gallery with those from other BRIC countries — Brazil, Russia and China — in what has been billed as a “celebration” of a renewed phase of creativity in these countries in the wake of their economic success. The event, it is claimed, confirms the increasing globalisation of Indian art which is seeing a surge in sales in the international market. While critics say it is a marketing-driven bubble prompted by the hype over India's new global status, Peter Sumner , Indian art specialist at Phillips de Pury, the auction house behind the sales, insists that the interest is “real” and here to stay.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">He talks to Hasan Suroor about the event and where Indian art is headed globally.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br class="webkit-block-placeholder" /></span></div></div><div style="line-height: 15px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b></span></span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b></b></div><b><div style="line-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Western auction houses and art galleries appear to have become suddenly interested in contemporary Indian art in the past few years. How much of this interest is real and how much does it have to do with aggressive marketing that has followed the opening of Indian markets and the hype over the country's new economic status?</span></span></div></div></b><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div style="line-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The interest from collectors, galleries and institutions is very real. With the increasing globalisation of contemporary art market, collectors, curators and auction houses have over the last few years turned their attentions to art from ‘emerging economies.' It is undoubtedly true that creative output goes hand in hand with a strong economic upturn in a region. Lately, there have been major Indian shows in London and their success indicates that this interest is here to stay.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">How big is the international market for Indian art today, especially in Europe? How much has it expanded over the past ten years and who are the main buyers? Is it confined mostly to rich Indian expatriates?</span></span></span></div></div><div style="line-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The buyers for Indian contemporary art are becoming increasingly global. Without question, there is always a strong trend among collectors to buy art from their own country as this art is often most relevant to their background, society and context. However, top Indian contemporary artists such as T.V Santhosh, Atil Dodiya, Thukral and Thagra and Jitish Kallat employ techniques and explore themes that appeal to the global western audience, whilst maintaining an inherent Indian quality. In the past ten years, contemporary Indian art market has changed beyond recognition. International galleries are now operating out of Mumbai, Delhi, Berlin, London and New York while auction houses regularly offer Indian art within the context of western contemporary art sales. This has undoubtedly helped to internationalise the collector- base.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">There is a view that Indian art is riding a market-driven bubble and would not long last. This happened with Indian writing in English which became hugely popular in the west in the late 1980s and mid-1990s but the honeymoon is now over.</span></span></span></div></div><div style="line-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The Indian contemporary art market experienced remarkable growth in 2007 and 2008. Indian art became available on the international stage and was offered in auctions in London and New York. Buyers were a mix of collectors — those looking for the latest in Indian art, and speculators buying it as investment. With the global recession also affecting the art market in 2009 there were substantial downward price corrections. Some could argue that the price bubble did burst in 2009. However, these price corrections helped to stabilise the market and have now allowed investors and collectors alike to re-enter the market at affordable and sustainable levels. At Phillips de Pury we have continued to experience strong demand for the most interesting fresh and exciting new art from young and established Indian artists alike.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Where does the Indian art sell more?</span></span></span></div></div><div style="line-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Indian art is collected mainly locally and by western art collectors and institutions.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Is there a certain kind of Indian art that sells more? Who are the biggest selling Indian artists today?</span></span></span></div></div><div style="line-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">There is a stable of young contemporary artists who have truly established themselves as a force to reckon with on the international art scene. The appeal of these artists comes in my experience from their ability to accurately document the massive, social and economic changes associated with the modern ‘globalised' India. In Kallat's ‘Untitled Eclipse' (a part of our BRIC sales), the artist creates a billboard sized canvas reminiscent of the many advertising billboards that have sprung up in the major Indian cities. The orange sunrays provide the backdrop to four smiling children, pointing the way to a bright new Indian future for India's youngest generation. Although malnourished and dressed in rags, their smiles betray an altogether darker, more unsettling existence, a reality in which these dispossessed youths are unlikely to benefit from the widening social and economic gap between the rich and poor. Similarly, Subodh Gupta, in ‘Idol Thief,' is able to transform everyday objects, pots, pans, milk buckets into recognisable trademarks that reflect the great changes that are happening in India today. It is this social commentary that collectors and buyers relate to and recognise.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">How much has the global market for Indian art grown since economic liberalisation? Has it lived up to expectations?</span></span></span></div></div><div style="line-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">In 2008, auction sales of Indian art raised nearly $24 million globally with Subodh Gupta breaking the $1 million barrier for the first time. This was the culmination of rapid growth of the global market for Indian art market following economic liberalisation in India. After large adjustments in the market place during 2009 India is once again becoming a focus point for the international art market — and is continuing to live up to the expectations. Confidence in long-term sustained growth is the dominant sentiment in the contemporary Indian art market. Buying is from India, U.K,, Europe and the U.S. with corporate institutions also playing their part within the context of contemporary Indian art sales.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">What does the future look like for Indian art globally?</span></span></span></div></div><div style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">With prices returned to attractive levels and with the Indian economy predicted to grow at a faster rate than the more established western economies, now is an ideal time to buy Indian contemporary art. Despite the recession, contemporary Indian art has continued to capture the imagination of the International collecting audience. Major exhibitions in London and the inclusion of some of the leading Indian contemporary artists in western gallery shows prove that Indian art is now able to stand shoulder to shoulder with its more established western counterparts on the global</span> stage. Indian contemporary art market should see sensible sustainable growth in the years to come.<a name='more'></a></span></span></div></div>Nitikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03559674890374830213noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7260847268617592059.post-56232008539077458572010-03-17T19:53:00.000-07:002010-03-17T19:53:48.511-07:00Collectors Seek Works by Older Chinese ArtistsWall Street Journal<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">March 10, 2010</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
HONG KONG—In the Chinese art market, it pays to be old.<br />
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This is the lesson from the 2010 list of the top living artists from China ranked by the value of their works sold at auction over the last year. The list, compiled by Hurun Report in partnership with the Shanghai Art Museum, shows a shift in collectors' tastes toward classical art, reversing a recent trend that had favored contemporary Chinese painters. The painters whose work is benefiting the most are the ones who have been around longer.<br />
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In the top spot is 89-year-old Zhao Wuji, with total sales at public auction of US$35.1 million. That is up 32% from the previous year. He is followed by 91-year-old Wu Guanzhong with $31.7 million, up 18%. Fan Zeng, 72, came in at No. 3 with $21.7 million in sales, almost double the level from the previous year.<br />
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The average age of the top 10 artists is 77, compared to 58 last year. (A similar ranking at Artfacts.net shows that the current top 10 living artists globally have an average age of 72.)<br />
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"This year, the preference amongst collectors for classical art is the most striking development," said Rupert Hoogewerf, founder of Hurun Report, which tracks information about wealthy individuals in China. In last year's list, classical and contemporary art sales were more or less evenly matched.<br />
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Overall, last year wasn't a great one for the Chinese art market. Works by the top 50 artists on the 2010 Hurun list sold a combined $258 million at auction last year, a 37% drop from the previous year.<br />
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Zhao Wuji, also spelled as Zao Wou-Ki, is seen in his Paris studio in 2005. The 89-year-old artist had sales worth $35.1 million in public auctions last year.<br />
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The number of painters on the list using the traditional Chinese ink style leapt to 19 from eight last year, while the number of contemporary artists on the list declined to 25 from 35.<br />
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None of last year's top three—oil painters Zhang Xiaogang, Yue Minjun and Zeng Fanzhi—ranked among the top five spots this year.<br />
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However, the most expensive artwork by a living Chinese artist sold at auction in 2009 was still a contemporary piece done in oil on canvas.<br />
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Christie's Hong Kong sold "Snow Started Falling" by 90-year-old Zhu Dequn for $5.9 million. Wu Guanzhong's 1995 work "Liu Yin Mu Niu Tu Jingxin" (roughly translated as "Herding cows beneath the willow shade") ranked as the most expensive traditional Chinese ink painting sold over the past year, fetching $2.1 million.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div>Nitikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03559674890374830213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7260847268617592059.post-68637245051725501722010-03-07T13:38:00.000-08:002010-03-07T13:38:04.905-08:00Art as an EscapeEven though the world of finance and investment banking swallows me up from time to time, I have realized that art will always have the effect of an irresistible drug on me. It never ceases to pull me into a dream world that escapes reality. A world which surpasses materialism, judgement and homegeneity. I hope that one day I will be able to create an art enterprise of my own that serves as an Art Escape. Nitikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03559674890374830213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7260847268617592059.post-43617691903347322032010-03-07T13:16:00.000-08:002010-03-07T13:16:35.818-08:00Urban MannersThe Urban Manners photo gallery has an interesting image showcasing artists such as Jitish Kallat, Nalini Malani, Subodh Gupta and Bharti Kher<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/S5QXiwGFO-I/AAAAAAAAAPs/yV-kJH_SPYA/s1600-h/0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/S5QXiwGFO-I/AAAAAAAAAPs/yV-kJH_SPYA/s320/0.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Nitikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03559674890374830213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7260847268617592059.post-72298581360158296542010-03-07T13:02:00.000-08:002010-03-07T13:17:24.229-08:00In Focus : Nalini Malani<div style="text-align: justify;">Born in 1946 in Karachi, Nalini Malani received her education from the J.J School of Arts in Mumbai. Much of her work is influenced by her experiences as refugee that took place during the partition. Her work is particularly interesting because she has emerged as a pioneer and a senior multimedia artist that achieved international prominence in the 1980s. Race, class and gender are recurring themes in her work. Since 1993 she also begun working on installations. Malani lives and works in Mumbai.</div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/S5QUEO3g3JI/AAAAAAAAAPU/zzUV36SExIc/s1600-h/CA-Cassandra-painting1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="189" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/S5QUEO3g3JI/AAAAAAAAAPU/zzUV36SExIc/s320/CA-Cassandra-painting1.jpg" width="320" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">'Cassandra'</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">30 panel polytych, acrylic, ink and enamel reverse painting on acrylic sheet, 227.5 x 396 cm, 2009</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/S5QUFBJX8sI/AAAAAAAAAPc/f8ZktwM--x8/s1600-h/DA-Listening-to-the-Shades1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/S5QUFBJX8sI/AAAAAAAAAPc/f8ZktwM--x8/s320/DA-Listening-to-the-Shades1.jpg" width="320" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="vtitle">Listening to the Shades 7</span></div>Acrylic, ink and enamel reverse painting on acrylic sheet, 2008Nitikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03559674890374830213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7260847268617592059.post-72865963555416735682010-03-07T12:49:00.000-08:002010-03-07T12:50:05.631-08:00Indian art: What next?NDTV<br />
March 5, 2010<br />
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<div id="description" style="text-align: justify;">The economic downturn did cast its shadow on the Indian art market. But have we hit a bottom? Have prices stabilised? Is there growth on the cards for the Indian art market?<br />
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The impact of the global economic slowdown hit the art market in 2009.Buyers tightened their purse strings and volumes of sales declined.<br />
For Indian art in particular, the year was rough, sales volumes contracted by over 50 per cent.<br />
Christie’s sales for Indian art dropped from a $40 million high in 2006 to $15 million by 2009.<br />
Yamini Mehta, a specialist of south Asian contemporary art at Christie's, said, "2009 has been a very challenging year. That is when we did see the volumes of the sales drop from a $40 million high to maybe a $15 million, but I do think that we are in a position right now where again quality is selling, we are getting many more inquiries from a wider variety of clientele."<br />
Experts suggest that prices for Indian art have begun to stabilise and an expanding buyer base is increasing the momentum for Indian art sales not only in the West but also in Asia.<br />
Amin Jaffer, International Director-Asian Art, Christie's, said, "What we have been seeing in the last few sales is that prices have been rising sale-to-sale in a really healthy way and I think we will continue to see this, particularly for the great rare things where the supply is finite.<br />
It could be an early Subodh that was exhibited in an early Bienalle, it could be an early Husain of a quality and type that is very rarely seen, it could be any of these things. For those things we have international demand. The bidding in Hong Kong represents all of Asia and it’s a fascinating moment that somebody from Taiwan, from Korea or from Jakarta believes that they should have Indian art in their house and in their collections."<br />
Compared to the Chinese art market, India still has a long way to go. Prices for Chinese art can go up to as high as $20 million whereas top prices for Indian art still stand at $2.5 million pointing to the fact that there is ample potential for an upside in prices.<br />
Hugo Weihe, senior vice president at Christie's, said, "Prices have reached within China over 10-20 million dollars already, while in western art we have achieved a 100 million dollars plus but it is going to go up there. There is no doubt because of this enormous economic power to buy back. In India its surprising that the focus on heritage has not yet happened but I believe it will happen in a much stronger way."<br />
With room for higher prices and a critical emphasis on quality post the slowdown, experts suggest that the next upturn for Indian art will prove to be deeper and more stable.</div>Nitikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03559674890374830213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7260847268617592059.post-24984179576974208232010-01-24T14:03:00.000-08:002010-01-24T14:22:36.366-08:00In Focus - Manjit Bawa<div style="text-align: justify;">1941 - 2008, Manjit Bawa paintings often depict nature in bright hues. Bawa worked as a silk screen painter in Britain, but on his return, he asked himself "What should I paint? I couldn't be just another another derivative of European style painting." He found inspiration from sufi poetry and hindu mythology. "I had been brought up on stories from the Mahabharat, the Ramayan, and the Puranas, on the poetry of Waris Shah and readings from the Guru Granth Sahib."<br />
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</div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/S1zDmArLcPI/AAAAAAAAAOk/6NL75vxvX-k/s1600-h/image_25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/S1zDmArLcPI/AAAAAAAAAOk/6NL75vxvX-k/s320/image_25.jpg" /></a>Nitikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03559674890374830213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7260847268617592059.post-66208187351146108902010-01-24T09:20:00.000-08:002010-01-24T09:25:25.923-08:00Top 25 Indian Contemporary ArtistsThe Economic Times<br />
January 24, 2009<br />
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1. MF Husain - The Cubist who redefined Indian art by not just working on the practice but also on the price he quoted.<br />
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2. VS Gaitonde - Gaitonde created for auction houses what is now a passage to india.<br />
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3. SH Raza - Raza and his bindu are at once spiritual and colorful and have layers of meaning within.<br />
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4. Amrita Shergil - A tumultuous life and a European pathos.<br />
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5. Ravi Varma - The artist adopted Western style to become the poster boy.<br />
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6. Tyeb Mehta - Artist Tyeb Mehta at launch of his 'Ideas Images Exchanges' at the Taj Hotel in Mumbai, on Wednesday April 12, 2006.<br />
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7. FN Souza<br />
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8. Bhupen Kakhar<br />
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9. Akbar Padamsee - Tina Ambani's Harmony show displaying works of renowned artists like Atul Dodiya, Bose Krishnamachari and Akbar Padamsee.<br />
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10. JS Swaminathan<br />
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11. Ram Kumar<br />
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12. Atul Dodiya<br />
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13. Abanindranath Tagore<br />
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14. Ganesh Pyne<br />
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15. Krishen Khanna<br />
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16. KG Subramanyan<br />
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17. Subodh Gupta<br />
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18. Nasreen Mohamedi<br />
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</div>19. Somnath Hore<span style="color: #0000ee;"></span><br />
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20. Nandalal Bose<br />
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21. Jitish Kallat<br />
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22. Manjit Bawa<br />
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23. Ravinder Reddy<br />
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24. Nalini Malani<br />
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25. Jogen Chowdhury<br />
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</div>Nitikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03559674890374830213noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7260847268617592059.post-67767356688031151422010-01-23T16:48:00.000-08:002010-01-23T16:52:29.994-08:00Fashion + Art<div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">"Inside Yves Saint Laurent's Art Collection"<br />
</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Forbes<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">February 4, 2009<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Susan Adams<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">At an unprecedented auction in Paris, a Matisse masterpiece stands out in a sale that could fetch $390 million. <span style="line-height: 22px;">When iconic designer Yves Saint Laurent died of brain cancer in June last year at the age of 71, he left behind a rich fashion legacy: He popularized the women's pantsuit, see-through blouses and the safari jacket. But he also left behind one of the world's greatest art collections.</span></span></span><br />
</div><div style="line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Assembled over 50 years with his lover and business partner Pierre Bergé, the 700-plus works will go on the block tonight in a three-day auction that art-world aficionados are referring to as the sale of the century. The collection spans a range of styles and eras, including old master paintings and drawings, rare works by impressionist greats, African art and more. Christie's International, which is running the sale at Paris' Grand Palais, is estimating a total take as high as $390 million.</span></span><br />
</div></div><div style="line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Since the financial markets </span></span><a href="http://www.forbes.com/rebuilding-global-markets/" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">started collapsing</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> in the fall, auctions have struggled, and auction houses have limited the number of lots for sale. </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Sotheby's</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><orgid idsrc="nyse" value="BID"></orgid> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">(nyse: </span></span><a href="http://finapps.forbes.com/finapps/jsp/finance/compinfo/CIAtAGlance.jsp?tkr=BID" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">BID</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> - </span></span><a href="http://search.forbes.com/search/CompanyNewsSearch?ticker=BID" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">news</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- </span></span><a href="http://people.forbes.com/search?ticker=BID" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">people </span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">) Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale on Feb. 3 in London fetched just $46 million including commissions, compared with the $230 million the sale hauled in a year ago. But Christie's--and the benefactors--hope that the greatness of the Saint Laurent collection will defy the downward trend.</span></span><br />
</div></div><div style="line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Christie's has invested heavily in the sale, reportedly making a $60 million loan to Bergé's charitable foundation and putting out a boxed set of five auction catalogues that it sold for $290 each. The house also had to field a last-minute legal challenge from a group called the Association to Protect Chinese Art in Europe, which sued in French court in an effort to block the sale of two Chinese bronzes in the collection, a rat's head and a rabbit's head worth up to $12.7 million each.</span></span><br />
</div></div><div style="line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Among the works in the painting portion of the sale, which takes place tonight, is a 1911 canvas by Henri Matisse (1869-1954), "Les coucous, tapis bleu et rose," which Christie's head of impressionist and modern art, Thomas Seydoux, says defines Saint Laurent's approach to design.</span></span><br />
</div></div><div style="line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"This picture by Matisse is all about juxtaposition and defined balance between color and motif," observes Seydoux. "That's what Saint Laurent was all about: finding balance in his clothes between color and motif."</span></span><br />
</div></div><div style="line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The still life depicts a blue-and-white vase holding a tight bouquet of yellow flowers atop a tablecloth of deep blue and pink. The swirling designs on the fabric are reminiscent of the famous 1910 Matisse depiction of dancing figures, "The Dance," which hangs in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In "Les coucous," a vibrant light blue wall serves as the backdrop to the flowers, and a diminutive painting of a painting by fellow fauvist Albert Marquet hangs just to the right of the vase.</span></span><br />
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</div></div>Nitikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03559674890374830213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7260847268617592059.post-39860667470219385712010-01-23T16:26:00.000-08:002010-01-23T16:56:40.470-08:00Shibu Natesan<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Grosvenor art gallery's profile on Shibu Natesan:</span></span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Shibu Natesan lives in two countries, India and England, a situation that creates distance and dispels it at the same time, paradoxically emphasizing the anonymity, intimacy and distance in his recent works. His varied subject matter comes from the experience and his imaginative space along with the deliberate strategies he is employing in creating these photo realistic imageries. The cultural environment in Kerala where he was trained as an artist helped him to develop his humanistic understandings and sensibilities and led him to contextualise his own work in the present situation. Here he uses images culled from popular culture, media and injects them with a sense of humour and irony. Its his take on the industrialized society and globalised economy where he addresses the repressive forms of control, power structures, racism, migration and so on. The critical realism, Shibu is engaging with, is generated from his reflections on the presuppositions of everyday life and he achieves it by transforming them into metaphors. In his work, use of photography is more literal in which he has been able to displace or subvert the meaning without altering its appearance.</span></span></span><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/S1uTdl947OI/AAAAAAAAAKs/7JM34Hj8jII/s1600-h/shibusatesan_big.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/S1uTdl947OI/AAAAAAAAAKs/7JM34Hj8jII/s320/shibusatesan_big.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/S1uTcEn1feI/AAAAAAAAAKk/wiEApM-WEMY/s1600-h/NAT_Smile.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/S1uTcEn1feI/AAAAAAAAAKk/wiEApM-WEMY/s320/NAT_Smile.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><span style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><br class="webkit-block-placeholder" /></span>Nitikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03559674890374830213noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7260847268617592059.post-13188656206951372562010-01-23T15:41:00.000-08:002010-01-23T15:52:45.807-08:00Anish Kapoor at The Guggenheim<div><br />A large sculpture by Indian artist Anish Kapoor featured at the Guggenheim in New York. </div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/S1uLcIniycI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/TRj6ICX-jGE/s1600-h/IMG_0264.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/S1uLcIniycI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/TRj6ICX-jGE/s400/IMG_0264.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5430087091191204290" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/S1uLboKouUI/AAAAAAAAAJs/7AekA3r95P0/s1600-h/IMG_0262.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/S1uLboKouUI/AAAAAAAAAJs/7AekA3r95P0/s400/IMG_0262.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5430087082480023874" /></a><br /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/S1uLbHDgX5I/AAAAAAAAAJc/-FW5J272X6M/s400/IMG_0260.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5430087073591746450" /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/S1uLbUEwlcI/AAAAAAAAAJk/SdwZNfpdAcI/s1600-h/IMG_0261.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/S1uLbUEwlcI/AAAAAAAAAJk/SdwZNfpdAcI/s400/IMG_0261.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5430087077086664130" /></a>Nitikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03559674890374830213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7260847268617592059.post-2803927399538652502009-05-25T13:14:00.001-07:002009-05-25T13:16:38.209-07:00Sotheby to come up with Indian Art Auction in London<div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The Economic Times</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">21 May 2009</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Ashoke Nag</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: -webkit-left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Arial;"></span></div><span><div style="text-align: justify;">KOLKATA: Leading auctioneer Sotheby’s is coming up with an Indian art auction in London in mid-June which will bring to the market an assortment of works by leading Modern and Contemporary Indianartists as well as rare Indian Miniatures. A major portion of the works are armed with provenance, having been part of private collections. The 86 lots are expected to bring in the region of £1.2 million. <br /></div></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span><div style="text-align: justify;">"Jogen Chowdhury’s ink and pastel composition Day Dreaming graces the cover of the sale catalogue. Dating from 1979, Day Dreaming is a continuation of a series of works that Chowdhury produced between 1968 and 1976, entitled Reminiscences of a Dream. <br /></div><span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><div style="text-align: justify;">The artist, who trained in both Kolkata and Paris, is best known for his ink works. This work, one of the largest of its type by Chowdhury to come to the market, was never offered at auction before and is estimated at £80,000-100,000," director of Indian art at Sotheby’s, Zara Porter-Hill, told ET in an e-mail from London. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">An Untitled painting by Manjit Bawa is another highlight and is expected to fetch £70,000-100,000. Bawa’s work questions the dynamics of the relationship between humans and the animal world and the icons and myths of both. His distinctive and bold use of colour is rooted in his training as a silk-screen painter and his study of Rajput and Pahari miniature paintings. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A group of works by the noted Bengal painter Nandalal Bose have come to the market with strong provenance, having been part of the artist’s own private collection. "The four ink and wash works -- entitled Untitled (Ocean Dune), Untitled (Where Cranes Nest), Untitled (Hills Ablaze) and Untitled (Two Shal Trees) were executed in the late 1950s and early 1960s and are full of intense beauty and capture the trajectory of modern India’s cultural development. Each of the four works carries an estimate of £10,000-15,000," Ms Porter-Hill said. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Among the miniatures on offer is a group of three Mughal illustrations coming from the famed Ehrenfeld Collection. The three miniatures are estimated at £8,000-12,000, £10,000-15,000 and £12,000-18,000. The sale will also offer a selection of works by Contemporary Indian artists such as Rashid Rana and Abir Karmakar and photographic works by Pablo Bartholomew and Atul Bhalla.<br /></div></span></span></span></div>Nitikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03559674890374830213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7260847268617592059.post-38061431959086159942009-05-12T00:15:00.000-07:002009-05-12T00:22:08.813-07:00Artists Featured at Christies<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/SgkjX1a9G9I/AAAAAAAAAIA/lUUy3jOqHAo/s1600-h/tv_santosh2.jpg"></a><div><br /></div><div>Incase some of you are wondering the kind of works the artists mention below create, here is a glimpse:</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Atul Dodiya... </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/Sgki4zflSOI/AAAAAAAAAHY/nrQ-Y8FeP8Q/s400/2007031601550301.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334833592887757026" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 259px; height: 350px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/Sgki465Ny-I/AAAAAAAAAHg/tkdgEkRt3_E/s400/AtulDodiya1_10357.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334833594874317794" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 241px; height: 300px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Ji<span><span></span></span>tish Kallat...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/SgkjJEvD1kI/AAAAAAAAAHo/H8BBgKNtzZo/s400/9882b.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334833872393983554" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">T.V. Santosh...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/SgkjRdZ6R7I/AAAAAAAAAHw/ENC4aoWwyG4/s400/0508_tv_santosh.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334834016455116722" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 215px; height: 214px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/SgkjX1a9G9I/AAAAAAAAAIA/lUUy3jOqHAo/s400/tv_santosh2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334834125981162450" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/SgkjXu1FsVI/AAAAAAAAAH4/CRNTnUxIt8U/s400/2005031802100301.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334834124211728722" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 351px; height: 290px; " /></span></div>Nitikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03559674890374830213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7260847268617592059.post-59464900313440849392009-05-12T00:08:00.000-07:002009-05-12T00:15:47.295-07:00Christie's 2009 sale to feature works of Indian artists<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Economic Times</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">11 May 2009</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Ashoke Nag</span></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="KonaBody"><div id="storydiv"><div class="Normal" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-left: 0px; font-weight: normal; "><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; ">KOLKATA: Christie’s 2009 sale of Asian Contemporary Art in end-May in Hong Kong will feature a select group of works by leading artists from the Indian subcontinent. In both an Evening and Day sale, collectors will be presented works of artists such as T.V. Santosh, Jitish Kallat and Atul Dodiya, as well as works by cutting-edge artists on the rise, some of whom are figuring for the first time at auction. </span><br /></div><span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; ">"Since launching Modern and Contemporary Indian Art sales in New York in 2000, worldwide sales in this category at Christie’s have grown from US$656,000 to over US$45 million in 2008 and we now have regular sales in New York, London and Hong Kong. Our selection later this month in Hong Kong will appeal to a range of buyers from around the world and collectors of all levels," Christie’s representative in India, Menaka Kumari-Shah, told ET. </span><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Evening Sale on May 24 offers Christie’s Asian Contemporary Art Evening Sale on May 24 features two seminal paintings by Mumbai-based artists, Jitish Kallat and T.V. Santosh. Having set the world auction record for a work by Jitish Kallat at over HK$1.5 million in May 2008, this sale offers collectors the opportunity to acquire Kallat’s painting Universal Recipient 1 which is estimated at HK$700,000-900,000/US$89,700-115,400. At the same time, Hundred Square Feet of Curses by T.V. Santosh is pegged in the range of HK$500,000-800,000/US$64,100-102,600. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Day Sale on May 25 could entice new and seasoned collectors alike with a number of works by both recognised and celebrated artists as well as the category’s rising stars. Being included at auction for the first time is Anirban Mitra, a Kolkata-based artist whose painting High Tide, Low Everywhere is estimated in the band of HK$40,000-60,000/US$5,100-7,700. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Also on offer are a rare set of stamp works by Ashim Purkayastha, estimated at $60,000-80,000/US$7,700-10,300, where the artist has painted over Indian revenue stamps. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Day Sale also includes a canvas by Sunil Gawde, an artist who has received international critical acclaim and is included at this year’s Venice Biennale which opens in June 2009. Also presented is a selection of works in a number of different mediums, including a sculptural installation titled Your Pact of Angst II by T.V. Santosh estimated at HK$180,000-250,000/US$23,100-32,100, photographs by artist and water-environmentalist Atul Bhalla, a watercolour by Atul Dodiya and drawings by Tushar Joag and Mithu Sen.<br /></div></span></span></span></div></div></div><div align="right"></div></div>Nitikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03559674890374830213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7260847268617592059.post-41249835262950330612009-05-10T12:10:00.000-07:002009-05-10T12:12:39.884-07:00Sales drop as Indian art loses stock<div></div><span><span><br />Sunday Independent</span></span><div><span><span>10 May 2009</span></span></div><div><span><span>Peter De Ionno</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><span>Confidence levels in the once- booming market for Indian art have dropped 63 percent since October as prices slide, according to a report published on Thursday by the research company ArtTactic.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><span>ArtTactic’s confidence index for Indian contemporary art alone declined by 90 percent during the same period.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><span>The indexes reflect the balance between optimistic and pessimistic art-market professionals. About a third of respondents believed the market for modern Indian art would rebound within two years. More than half thought demand for contemporary works would take between three and 10 years to recover, said the report.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">“Problems first appeared in September 2008, around the time of the Damien Hirst sale,” said Anders Petterson, the founder of ArtTactic, referring to the UK artist’s auction at Sotheby’s that raised £111.5 million (R1.4 billion at Friday’s rate) and coincided with the collapse of Lehman Brothers. – Bloomberg<br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11px; "><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span></div></div>Nitikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03559674890374830213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7260847268617592059.post-25050643321497494812009-05-08T15:19:00.000-07:002009-05-08T16:21:39.920-07:00"The Picasso of India": MF Husain<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/SgS93DHaEUI/AAAAAAAAAHQ/vVtQ2xURCAU/s1600-h/figure9.jpg"></a><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">One can love MF Husain, one can hate MF Husain, but one can't ignore MF Husain. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">The Early Years</span>: Maqbool Fida Husain was born on September 17,1915 in Pandharpur, MP. His mother died when he was barely 2 years old. Husain moved to Mumbai when he was 20 to attend the J.J School of Arts. He earned money by doing various odd jobs such as painting cinema boards and working at a toy factory. In his own words: <span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">"</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">We were paid barely four or six annas per square foot. That is, for a 6x10 feet canvas, we earned a few rupees. And apart from the New Theatre distributor, the others did not pay us at all. As soon as I earned a little bit I used to take off for Surat, Baroda and Ahmedabad to paint landscapes." </span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Husain's first painting- "Sunhera Sansaar", was was shown at the 1947 annual exhibition of the Bombay Art Society. Soon the Progressive Artists Group was formed, and through this, Husain was greatly influenced by Emil Nolde and Oskar Kokoschka. From 1948 to 1950 a series of exhibitions all over India brought Husain's work to the public's attention. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">1950s-1970s</span>: Husain started travelling to China, USA, and Europe for his art to be recognized on an international scaled. Also, in 1966 Husain was awarded the Padmashree by the Government of India. This is also when he made his first film- "Through the eyes of a Painter". He was also invited along with Pablo Picasso to the Sao Paulo Biennal. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">1980s</span>: During this time, Husain slowly grew into a more public figure through his numerous controversies. One event that received alot of media attention was his Shwetambari exhibition at the Jehangir Art Gallery. The exhibition consisted of 2 halls shrouded in white cloth and torn newspaper. He also gave a public performance in the Tata Center in Calcutta where he painted a picture of 6 goddesses. On the last day he destroyed his paintings by painting over them in white. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">1990s</span>: Husain's collections started becoming more accessible to the public. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">His Style</span>: The medium of work of MF Husain's paintings differs from oil to watercolor as he loves experimenting. The subjects of Husain's paintings greatly differ, but he inspired by certain topics in particular. Greatly inspired by the Indian epic- The Mahabharata- Husain freqently returns to the drama of the conflicts and characters as inspiration for his paintings. He is also often drawn towards painting depictions of horses and Ganesh. He also turns towards paintings of mothers, and icons such as Mother Teresa. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Husain's creativity, style, and innovation have made him one of the most celebrated Indian artists today. He was truly an entrepreneur in Contemporary Indian art by also bringing Indian art to an international level. MF Husain has also had his fair share of controversies such as being charged for painting nude portraits of Hindu gods and goddesses even though he is a Muslim. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/SgS4GgE38rI/AAAAAAAAAGI/n0j44n63wbM/s400/husain_395.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333590280542614194" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 395px; height: 220px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/SgS4simKJXI/AAAAAAAAAGQ/T_bsD2R9vZ0/s400/mar06_husain1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333590934054118770" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 371px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/SgS5H5ustUI/AAAAAAAAAGY/LmcwDdsYikc/s400/13700913_1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333591404120421698" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 286px; height: 400px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/SgS5mVIkABI/AAAAAAAAAGg/96R07I6VI0c/s400/m_f_husain___naad_swaram-ganeshayem.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333591926872735762" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 336px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><span><div style="text-align: center;">Title: Naad Swaram Ganeshayem</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/SgS6uP19X-I/AAAAAAAAAGw/xpBqa8Ghnhw/s400/XXL_MFHusain-L-909069121.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333593162403110882" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 236px; height: 360px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"></span></div><span><div style="text-align: center;">Title: Naples Stallion</div><div style="text-align: center;">Materials: Acrylic on Canvas</div><div style="text-align: center;">Size: 24x36<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/SgS7Q4CVnVI/AAAAAAAAAG4/-EyTRRaALLM/s400/mf_husain-5.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333593757308001618" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 256px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">Title: Autobiography</div><div style="text-align: center;">Year: 1996</div><div style="text-align: center;">Materials: Oil on Canvas</div><div style="text-align: center;">Size: 42x72 inches</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/SgS9awZPHPI/AAAAAAAAAHI/y2TeXPnfLoE/s400/52untitled.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333596126078508274" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 218px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><span><span><span><span></span></span></span></span></span></div><span><div style="text-align: center;">Source: Cyber Art Museum<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/SgS93DHaEUI/AAAAAAAAAHQ/vVtQ2xURCAU/s400/figure9.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333596612140339522" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><span><div style="text-align: center; ">Figure: Hanuman</div></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"></span></div></span>Nitikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03559674890374830213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7260847268617592059.post-31730399171299816302009-05-06T23:24:00.000-07:002009-05-06T23:30:51.084-07:00Art needs a wider canvas<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"></span></div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br />The Business Standard</span></span></span><div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">6 May 2009</span></span></span></div><div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Kishore Singh</span></span></span></div><div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Six decades after independence and nearly two decades after economic liberation, India has little to show by way of art in the public domain. According to some estimates, the USA alone has over 600 trusts and foundations that display art, mount fund-raisers to acquire more works and encourage research, while Europe has traditionally enjoyed a great capacity to divert corporate spending in this direction. Even China has managed to create a vibrant art community with museums and galleries and state-sponsored foundations that have brought contemporary art into the mainstream of Chinese life.<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">India’s poor record on this score is only too evident. Other than the National Gallery of Modern Art in Delhi, Mumbai and now Bangalore, or Kala Bhavan in Bhopal, a country with a population of a billion-plus simply has no stake in contemporary art. Sure, there are galleries — but their main function is transacting sales, not providing a comprehensive or even a specialised or thematic overview of the art scene in the country.<br /></div></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">And yet, it isn’t as though there is a shortage of art collectors — or sufficient funds —in the country. Collectors spend crores of rupees to build personal collections, but have not thought to institutionalise those collections. Any CSR activity has remained confined to those that traditionally held sway — of dedicating a temple, a school and a well (though this has increasingly lost its relevance) to various family elders or ancestors. While any support of education, or slum development, is welcome, the void when it comes to supporting art is a visible lacunae.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Whether it is old money or new wealth — the Tatas or ITC as much as the likes of Infosys or Wipro — no one has thought to generate a corpus fund to build and house an art collection, underlining the apathy towards art in the national consciousness. We have failed to produce the Rockefeller or Onassis model of art trusts, a need that is now being felt as significant works by modern and contemporary artists find international buyers, or private collectors, as a result of which they disappear forever from public view. A vibrant art culture can be created when such art is displayed, or talked about, in the mainstream rather than just among a peer cognoscenti. Several galleries, curators and other members of the art fraternity speak of the importance of such foundations, and say the current slowdown provides the right opportunity to build corpus corporate collections at the right price, while also re-invigorating the art environment.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">As always, there are a few exceptions, though it must be noted that they do not come from India’s major corporate club. The Devi Art Foundation, housed in an office building in Gurgaon, is the most prominent for breaking the mould of collector indifference. Housing the collection of Anupam Poddar and his mother Lekha Poddar, the Devi Art Foundation is dedicated to showcasing contemporary art, facilitating viewership and encouraging subcontinental art practices. The 7,500 feet of space is offered to curators to innovate and experiment, developing thematic aspects from the extensive Poddar collection.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">A larger experiment, this one in the public-private domain, is scheduled to come up in Kolkata with the launch, some time next year, of the Kolkata Museum of Modern Art. A Rs 550 crore venture of the West Bengal state government with the private sector represented by Rakhi Sarkar, its managing trustee, the museum’s corpus funding got off to a start last year with an auction of contemporary and modern art at Sotheby’s that raised $1.5 million for the venture. KMOMA is being designed by Switzerland-based Herzog & de Meuron (with the Tate Modern in London, and Beijing’s bird’s nest stadium to its credit) in the city’s Rajarhat, with Delhi-based architect S K Das as local partner. When complete, it will likely house India’s most ambitious art collection after the National Gallery of Modern Art, consisting of works from the 19th century on to the current crop of exciting, new media artists.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The only other public outing for the arts currently planned is Neville Tuli’s Osianama, an ambitious project that is under completion at Mumbai’s heritage Minerva cinema that is being restored to house an extensive museum of Indian art, cinematic memorabilia as well as international oddities and collectibles already in excess of 1,60,000 numbers. But if India is to be viewed seriously for its art, interest from the state as well as a thrust from large business houses is important: but who will first bell the cat?</span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:12px;"><p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; "></p><p style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"></span></span></p><p></p></span></div></div>Nitikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03559674890374830213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7260847268617592059.post-975355393356205002009-05-06T16:20:00.000-07:002009-05-06T17:56:44.206-07:00Like Husband Like Wife: Jayasri Burman<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/SgIgIml2FqI/AAAAAAAAAGA/YDnlpwPk4ds/s1600-h/w55_tn.jpg"></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Jayasri Burman is an extremely accomplished Indian artist today. Born and brought up in Kolkatta, Burman went and studied print making under Monsieur Ceizerzi in Paris. She was also exposed to art very early on in life through her uncle Shakti Burman. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13px;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Burman's paintings are primarily watercolor based, focused on indian mystical contents. Her paintings have a dream-like and spiritual quality about them that evoke the imagination. She often uses the colors red, blue, and saffron, since many of her works are inspired by nature. She has won several awards for her art works including The Certificate of Merit in 1987 and the National Award in 1985. </span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/SgIdp8morRI/AAAAAAAAAFo/PduyuyRFGi4/s400/jayashreeburman_10327.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332857515240107282" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 188px; height: 300px; " /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/SgIelFOJd3I/AAAAAAAAAFw/cWgD5RiLmsA/s400/ncr5.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332858531165599602" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 127px; height: 400px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Title: Jeevan Dhara</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/SgIfYxY1cVI/AAAAAAAAAF4/LPzVvgDPeEk/s400/2002081100390203.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332859419194913106" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 306px; height: 350px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Title: Shringer</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/SgIgIml2FqI/AAAAAAAAAGA/YDnlpwPk4ds/s400/w55_tn.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332860240930412194" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 175px; height: 175px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><br /></span></div>Nitikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03559674890374830213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7260847268617592059.post-44272719622454487462009-05-01T16:43:00.000-07:002009-05-02T15:32:32.472-07:00In Focus: Paresh Maity<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/SfuOpD13IqI/AAAAAAAAAFg/3Ca_UA_Dxi4/s1600-h/SS-002.jpg"></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">One of the most talked about Indian artists today is Paresh Maity. Born in Tamluk, West Bengal, Maity received a Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts from the Government College of Arts in Crafts in Kolkata, and a Masters Degree from the College of Art in New Delhi. In a short career span, Paresh has made a name for himself in the Indian and International Art world (his paintings seem to have become a staple in every upper-class expatriate Indian's living room). Paresh has many distinctive awards including awards from the Royal Watercolor Society of London and the Harmony Award of New Delhi.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Paresh has two distinctive types of art work 1) Watercolor on canvas-landscapes 2) Oil on canvas-shapes and figures. Over the years he has also tended to shift towards an abstract style on his canvases. Paresh's signature style seems to be images of faces with extremely striking features in vibrant and sometimes piercing colors. While Paresh's newer oil on canvases are extremely attractive and distinctive, personally, I prefer his older water colors because of his ability to mix transparent colors in an extremely clean, yet intricate and refreshing way. </span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/SfuOozRPXsI/AAAAAAAAAFI/cqKeEe1kWEg/s400/CIMA-004.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331011415531544258" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 275px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Title: Landscapes</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Year: 1987</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Materials: Water color on canvas</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Size: 55x73 cm</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Source: www.pareshmaity.com</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/SfuOo2KLa8I/AAAAAAAAAFQ/kBK0U29B9xw/s400/CIMA-006.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331011416307231682" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 276px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Title: Landscapes</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Year: 1987</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Materials: Water color on canvas</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Size: 55x73 cm</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Source: www. pareshmaity.com</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/SfuOonUw5DI/AAAAAAAAAFA/91khbmWi-2o/s400/CIMA-001.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331011412325098546" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 295px; " /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Title: Landscapes</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Year: 2000</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Materials: Water color on canvas</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Size: 55x73 cm</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Source: www. pareshmaity.com</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/SfuOpD13IqI/AAAAAAAAAFg/3Ca_UA_Dxi4/s400/SS-002.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331011419980112546" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 390px; height: 400px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Title: Shapes in Symphony</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Year: 2003</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Materials: Oil on canvas</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Size: 120x120 cm</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Source: www.pareshmaity.com</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/SfuOpKpN7fI/AAAAAAAAAFY/iheWpBnwlxc/s400/II-012.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331011421806128626" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 397px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Title: Intimate Images</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Year: 2003</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Materials: Oil on canvas</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Size: 58x58 cm</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Source: www.pareshmaity.com</span></div><div><br /></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13px;"><br /></span></div>Nitikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03559674890374830213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7260847268617592059.post-26824491734886926662009-05-01T15:22:00.001-07:002009-05-01T15:39:21.570-07:00Growing Value: Indian Art<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/Sft5L4krkbI/AAAAAAAAAEw/N6CFi0A9VLc/s1600-h/priyanka-07.jpg"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Siliconeer<br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">April 2009</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Priyanka Bhardwaj</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">Amid all the bad news about the economy, one ray of optimism is the steady growth of the market for Indian Art. </span><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/Sft2zlbXVKI/AAAAAAAAAEI/s39fAf9-mxw/s400/priyanka-05.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330985212515407010" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 400px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Title: Mahisasura</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Artist: Tyeb Mehta</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 4px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 4px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"></span></span></span></div><span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; ">If there is a sector in India that has managed to beat the recession, credit crunch and economic downturn, it has been Indian art. </span><br /></div><span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><div style="text-align: justify;">The market for Indian art is turning more substantial and varied, with increased global interest from art collectors, investors and auction houses lining up to tap the estimated Rs. 50 billion Indian mart. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A recent indication is the Sotheby’s auction of Asian art works, where a Bharti Kher painting, “Mimic” sold much above pre-sale estimates, while a stainless steel mirror sculpture by Anish Kapoor sold for a record $1.4 million. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">While the recession has dented spirits last autumn with many Indian pieces remaining unsold at the Sotheby’s and Christie’s auctions, recent brisk sales of six contemporary, impressionist and modern works have underlined the growing value of Indian art. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“The results are remarkable. I think this goes to show that top-quality works, at the right value, have a very strong market,” according to Maithili Parekh, deputy director at Sotheby’s. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Indeed, observers say that the India art market is growing at a good pace of over 40 percent presently, compared to less than 20 percent 7-8 years back. Apart from Indian patrons, interest from international buyers with non-India roots is also up. <br /></div></span></span></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><span><span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/Sft3IDQI4uI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/dR-FkKHB3S8/s400/priyanka-02.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330985564118770402" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Title: Reflection</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Artist: Anish Kapoor</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 4px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 4px; font-family:Verdana;"></span></span></div><span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; ">Fund managers and gallery owners in Mumbai confirm that investors (perhaps hurt by the crash in the real estate and stock markets over the last year) have diverted their money into art. </span><br /></div><span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><div style="text-align: justify;">This has inflated values by 30-60 percent, giving rise to a new breed of art investors as compared to art connoisseurs, who identify art works as brands to trade. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The attractiveness of the Indian works is enhanced by lower pre-sale estimates, shrinking of catalogue size and recalibration of prices of art pieces. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Indeed, from modern artists such as M.F. Husain, Francis Newton Souza and S.H. Raza, to contemporary ones such as Subodh Gupta, and upcoming ones, such as Chitra Ganesh, Indian artists are making a global splash and making big money too. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Saffronart.com, in its Autumn Online Auction in 2007, facilitated the $1.5 million sale of a painting by Francis Newton Souza. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A New York based Indian hedge-fund manager paid $1.6 million for Tyeb Mehta’s paintings titled “Mahisasura,” a Hindu buffalo demon destroyed by Hindu Goddess Durga. <br /></div></span></span></span><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 4px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 4px; font-size:10px;"></span><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); font-style: normal; "><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/Sft3fmM6R1I/AAAAAAAAAEY/vYFqwjTqTKM/s400/priyanka-03.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330985968637462354" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"></span></div><span><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Title: A Very Hungry God</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Artist: Subodh Gupta</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div></span><span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; ">An upcoming contemporary artist, Isha Saraf, who spent 10 years in New York, said: “The new art galleries in New York like ‘Bodhi Art’ are providing an apt platform to Indian contemporary art, full of vibrant colors, mixed emotions, gods, flowers and landscapes as compared to the Western art that has a more emotive feel.” </span><br /></div><span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Elaborating on the interest in Indian art, she said, “Indian art is breaking boundaries in terms of imagination, horizons, depiction and also becoming commercial.” <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Shekhar, an art collector and owner of Creativity Art Gallery, New Delhi, says, “The global financial meltdown has impacted the pricing of art work already bracketed in the bigger league, but the mass body of art work (including India) is only gaining in awareness and thus witnessing an appreciation in prices.” <br /></div></span></span></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-style: normal; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 4px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 4px; font-family:Verdana;font-size:10px;"></span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); font-style: normal; "><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/Sft3-TnwpmI/AAAAAAAAAEg/C74cKB0nW1M/s400/priyanka-06.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330986496225748578" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 335px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"></span></div><span><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Title: Nadaswaram</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Artist: M.F. Hussain<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Saffronart director Dinesh Vazirani says, “Since 2000, the foreign-interest has risen and buyers comprise NRIs (Non Resident Indians) and foreign individuals, auction houses, collectors and investors.” <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Private banks are helping patrons build portfolios of art works, gallery auctions and direct sales, in return for a fee. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Indeed, organized forums are betting on Indian artists and their works lately. The international interest has spurred changes such as the Devi Art Foundation, India’s first contemporary art museum in early 2008. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Major exhibitions have been planned this year at London’s Serpentine Gallery, Japan’s Mori Art Museum and the prestigious Arco Contemporary Art Fair in Madrid. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Arco Contemporary Art Fair in Spain will provide pointers to the benchmarking of Indian art collections vis a vis global works. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On the cards is the release of a movie called “Rang Rasiya,” based on the life of Raja Ravi Verma, a 19th century visionary painter, who contributed to making Indian art part of popular culture. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Art arbiter Charles Saatchi began collecting Indian art last summer and plans to put on an exhibition titled “The Empire Strikes Back: Indian Art Today,” this year. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Neville Tuli, founder and CEO of Osian’s Connoisseurs of Art, a premier art gallery of India, stressed that international collectors and museums have a fairly developed interest in classical art and antiquities, but not in Indian modern and contemporary art, which is evoking fresh interest. <br /></div></span></span></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/Sft4iSRqnxI/AAAAAAAAAEo/hNGLi4yNvug/s400/priyanka-01.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330987114339933970" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 399px; " /></span></div></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"></span></div><span><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Title: Spit</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Artist: Bharti Kher<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Peter Nagy, a New Yorker who arrived in India in 1992, and within five years set up Nature Morte, one of the best-known art galleries in New Delhi has been quoted to say: “In terms of the international scene the interest in India is still nascent, yet my gallery is swamped with inquiries from curators, private collectors, galleries and foreign journalists.” <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Nagy opened a gallery in Kolkata last year in association with New York’s Bose Pacia Gallery, and a branch is due to open in Berlin, to showcase both Indian and non-Indian contemporary art. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“With the economy opening up in the Nineties, Indian culture has become more relevant to the rest of the world,’’ says Nagy. “It’s influencing music and fashion — Punjabi folk music is mixed with gangster rap and the hip restaurants in New York are Indian.” <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Yet, issues related to paucity of state funding and support for newer artists, absence of critical enquiry or appreciation of art, patronage, preservation efforts, scientific restoration of works, expert marketing strategies, qualified curators, support staff and informed docents, need to be addressed. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Censorship and intolerance by right wing fanatics have been a discouraging trend. <br /></div></span></span></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/Sft5L4krkbI/AAAAAAAAAEw/N6CFi0A9VLc/s400/priyanka-07.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330987828994871730" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 270px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Title: The Red Road</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Artist: Francis Newton Souza</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">The nonagenarian M.F. Husain, in his 90s, stays in self imposed exile in Dubai due to threats from Hindu groups enraged by his paintings of nude gods and goddesses. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the past decade of relative non-recognition, though, there have been positive developments in Indian art: experimentation, newer issues, original thinking, international idioms espousing Indian ethos, expressive styles, modalities and infusion — all have brought a unique global interest to the Indian body of art. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Yet an important question remains: How much of this is froth, and how much real? Is the increased interest and consequent skyrocketing price of Indian art reflective merely of nationalistic pride for the Indian nouveaux riches, whether in India or abroad, and a passing fancy for non-Indian global clientele caught up in a transient fad where all things Indian are sexy? Or is there some genuine aesthetic interest developing on Indian art? The recent global economic downturn could not present a sterner test, and if Indian art has crossed the initial hurdle with flying colors, the jury is till out on its longer term prospects.<br /></div></span></span></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 4px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 4px; "><span><span></span></span></span><br /></div></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"></span></div></div></div>Nitikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03559674890374830213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7260847268617592059.post-62965488207387236212009-04-29T22:10:00.002-07:002009-04-29T23:37:46.107-07:00My Favorite: S.H. Raza<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/Sfk3NuoIu5I/AAAAAAAAAD4/y8WfyJZdNqY/s1600-h/sh_raza_20070226.jpg"></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">For me, owning a Raza would be a dream come true. He is my favorite Indian artist for his use of dramatic, yet, complimentary colors in Westernized (he is settled in France) calming expressions. From these 4 paintings alone, you can notice a clear shift in Raza's art from his earlier days to his more recent works. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/Sfk3NuoIu5I/AAAAAAAAAD4/y8WfyJZdNqY/s400/sh_raza_20070226.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330352342963895186" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 370px; height: 252px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">S.H. Raza</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:48px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); font-size:16px;"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/Sfk1FZEda-I/AAAAAAAAADY/RtAgC-o-_Fw/s400/24x19.5-3785-small.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330350000714902498" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 375px; " /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Title: Village Au Soleil</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Year: 1958</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Materials: Oil on Canvas</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Size: 24x19.5</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/Sfk1FTWJ2sI/AAAAAAAAADg/o7sVzlvNz78/s400/2007120356782002.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330349999178504898" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 348px; height: 350px; " /></span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Title: Rajasthan</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Year: 1984</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Size: 175x175 cm</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/Sfk1FrWv2OI/AAAAAAAAADw/MJGqliRn1Rw/s400/sayed_haidar_raja-4.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330350005623445730" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 300px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Title: Nagas</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Year:1994</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Materials: Acrylic on Canvas</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Size: 59x59 in</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/Sfk1FqDmlkI/AAAAAAAAADo/6ATevmwSaFw/s400/AmarJiva.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330350005274711618" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 209px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Title: Amar Jiva</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Year: 2001</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Materials: Acrylic on Canvas</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Size: 39x79 in</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Photo courtesy of Saffron Art</span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div> </div>Nitikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03559674890374830213noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7260847268617592059.post-62502636615983141222009-04-29T17:00:00.000-07:002009-04-29T23:39:29.036-07:00Open your Eyes to Indian Art<div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The Korea Times</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">20 April 2009</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Cathy Rose A. Garcia</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 6px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 6px; ">India has always been a source of fascination, from Alexander the Great to Rudyard Kipling to the Beatles. In the last decade, India's booming economy has fueled renewed interest in its pop culture, especially Bollywood and recently, the Oscar-winning film ``Slumdog Millionaire'' and the infectious song "Jai Ho.'' Indian contemporary art is also in the spotlight, attracting the attention of major art institutions, collectors and even speculators. </span><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 6px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 6px; "><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><div style="text-align: justify;">"Open Your Third Eye'' is perhaps one of the largest exhibitions of contemporary Indian art ever in Korea. The exhibition opened Thursday at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Originally titled "Chalo! India: A New Era of Indian Art,'' the exhibition first opened at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo last November.<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"The word `chalo' means `let's go!' It's an unusual title for a contemporary art show. It invites (visitors) on a journey to discover the art scene in India and to discover contemporary life and society of India today. At the same time, `chalo' is a friendly word. I tried to put the idea of looking at India through a more intimate gaze rather than through exotic eyes. This is also a reflection of the different dynamics in India right now, the economy, art scene, and all kinds of meaning put together in the word, `chalo','' curator Miki Akiko told reporters, Thursday. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Akiko made several trips to India, particularly to the cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Vadodara. She visited 60 artists' studios, before picking 100 artworks by 27 artists and artist groups for the show. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The exhibition explores the current state of Indian contemporary art, and captures the vibrant energy and changes of Indian society.<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The first section "Prologue: Journeys'' features pieces that incorporate traditional Indian motifs. Visitors may be surprised to find a life-sized female elephant at the entrance of the exhibition. For "The Skin Speaks a Language Not Its Own,'' Bharti Kher used millions of bindis, shaped like sperm, to cover the elephant skin. A bindi is an ornamental dot placed on a woman's forehead as a sign of being married. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Throughout the exhibition space, there are 10 different chairs created by N.S. Harsha. The chairs are meant for the "guards'' to protect the items placed beside it, such as a rice bag or a book.<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A. Balasubramaniam's "Kaayam'' features flattened molds of his own body and placed as if it was part of the wall. He said the word Kaayam has three meanings, body, womb and the phrase, "this will go away.'' <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the second section, "Creation and Destruction: Urban Landscape,'' artists ponder on life and contradictions in modern India. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Krishnaraj Chonat's "The Coracle'' is a jacuzzi tub-turned-boat filled with a hodge podge of junk, all painted in white. Chonat explained that the boat's round shape means it can go anywhere, and the inclusion of a pair of binoculars indicate it doesn't know where to go next. <br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The third section "Reflections: Between Extremes'' is an interplay of contrasts and conflicts. Anant Joshi's multimedia installation "Naval One and the Many,'' which features hundreds of colorful, cheap toys rotating on skewer sticks, is a commentary on the hectic urban life. "While we're looking at it, we're also experiencing it. Even though we want to get away, we're constantly trapped by it,'' he said. <br /></div></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 6px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 6px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 6px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 6px;font-family:arial;font-size:12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"></span></span></span></div><span><div style="text-align: justify;">In the fourth section "Fertile Chaos,'' the art works deal with the Indian people, their dreams and issues of nation, history, identity and gender. Design team Thukral & Tagra's kitschy work "Phantom IX-B,'' which is featured on the exhibition ticket, reflects the consumerist desire of young Indians today. <br /></div><span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><div style="text-align: justify;">The final section "Epilogue: Individuality and Collectivity/ Memory and Future'' deals with individual and collective experiences of the past and future. In "Tryst With Destiny,'' Shilpa Gupta's voice singing the text of a famous speech by India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru is broadcast from a microphone-shaped speaker.<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"India and Korea share a similar historical and social background: Both countries were under the colonial rule; their cities underwent major changes; with their economic growth, the gap between rich and poor has been widening; they sometimes experienced the cognitive and cultural lag. In this respect, the artworks shown at this exhibition let us reflect on our own lives from a critical perspective,'' said museum curator Kim Na-min.<br /></div></span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 6px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 6px;font-family:arial;font-size:48px;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 6px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 6px;font-family:arial;font-size:48px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); line-height: normal; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/Sfjq9GRRV2I/AAAAAAAAADA/19KOHH11ix0/s400/090420_p14_open1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330268494368954210" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 244px; " /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 6px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 6px;font-family:arial;font-size:13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:12px;"><table width="200" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td bgcolor="ebebeb" class="caption" style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 8pt; color: rgb(40, 40, 40); line-height: 11pt; ">“The Skin Speaks a Language Not Its Own” by Bharti Kher<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 6px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 6px;font-family:arial;font-size:48px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); line-height: normal; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/Sfjq9COI4kI/AAAAAAAAADI/StqA1jtfSqM/s400/090420_p14_open2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330268493282075202" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 300px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/Sfjq9Qp73NI/AAAAAAAAADQ/NNpzqziLwDM/s400/090420_p14_open3.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330268497156758738" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 256px; " /></span></div>Nitikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03559674890374830213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7260847268617592059.post-6947262477128233662009-04-29T16:41:00.000-07:002009-04-29T23:39:00.331-07:00S.H. Raza finds exhibition of his work full of fakes<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/Sfjmi4PIoNI/AAAAAAAAAC4/oo23N8ka8oU/s1600-h/17_shraza_lg_469140a.jpg"></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Times Online</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">20 January 2009</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Jeremy Page</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 57px; "></span></div><span><div style="text-align: justify;">India's art world is reeling from one of its most embarrassing forgery cases after S.H. Raza, one of the country's foremost artists, inaugurated an exhibition of his paintings in Delhi – only to discover that most were fakes.<br /></div><span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Mr Raza, who is based in Paris, had contributed some drawings to the show at the Dhoomimal Gallery while the gallery had borrowed about 30 more paintings – supposedly his early works – from his nephew.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"When I reached the gallery and started looking at the canvases on the walls, I was stunned," Mr Raza wrote in an Indian newspaper.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"As I moved from one canvas to the other, I realised that the works were just not mine, they were all fakes," he said. "I will turn 86 next month. At this stage of my life, this was the last thing I wanted to do – grace an exhibition of my own fake paintings."</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Mr Raza is one of India's most famous living artists and his works are in high demand internationally, with one painting selling for about £1.3 million at a Christie's auction in London last year.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Guests at the inauguration on Saturday night described how Mr Raza had quietly inspected the paintings, with his nephew and the gallery owners, before informing them that they were forgeries.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Uday Jain and Uma Jain, the gallery owners, apologised to the veteran artist, saying that they had been duped, and cancelled the show half an hour later.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"I was very upset that it happened at my gallery," Mrs Jain toldThe Times. "But the fact that we invited Raza to attend clearly shows our commitment to showing only authentic art."</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">She said that she had borrowed the paintings from the nephew, Z. H. Zafri, and had told him clearly that his uncle would be inaugurating the exhibition.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">She also said that Mr Zafri had told her that the paintings came from Raza's former home in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh."</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">All I know is that these paintings were loaned to us by Zafri, and when Raza saw them he expressed doubts about them," Mrs Jain said. "He was very angry, but that is between him and his nephew."</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Mr Raza has since filed a lawsuit against Mr Zafri. Neither man was immediately available for comment.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The scandal highlights the lucrative opportunities for forgers in India, which has witnessed an unprecedented boom in demand for local modern and contemporary art over the past few years.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The vaule of Indian art sold at auction has risen from about $5 million (£3.4 million) in 2003 to $150 million last year and the local art market in India is now estimated to be worth around £200 million.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">But art experts and dealers say that one of the main risks for buyers is that India does not have any fixed mechanism for authentication of art works.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Forgery is a tremendous problem now," said Mrs Jain. "In the last 10-15 years, so much money has come into the art market and a lot of people who are buying don't have much experience."<br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 11px; font-family:Arial;font-size:11px;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.2em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"></span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.2em; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:1.2em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); line-height: normal; font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AHntEzlLEMc/Sfjmi4PIoNI/AAAAAAAAAC4/oo23N8ka8oU/s400/17_shraza_lg_469140a.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330263645878788306" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 385px; height: 185px; " /></span></p><p style="text-align: center; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.2em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"></span></span></p><span><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;font-size:13px;">Title: Prakriti Purush, Year:2006</span><br /></div></span><p style="text-align: center; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.2em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"></span></span></p></span><p></p></div></div>Nitikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03559674890374830213noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7260847268617592059.post-44744265244122623732009-04-28T22:51:00.000-07:002009-04-29T23:38:41.914-07:00India Art Summit, 19-22 August 2009<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">India's second annual international art fair is all set to take place in August at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi. In its first year, the Indian Art Summit attracted over 10,000 people and is expected to operate on an even larger scale this year. <br /></div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">Some of the artists showcased include Akbar Padamsee, Partha Shaw (one of my favorite upcoming artists), S.H Raza and F.N. Souza. The list is impressive featuring everyone from upcoming artists to legends of Indian Art. Check out the website for more details: <a href="http://www.indiaartsummit.com/">www.indiaartsummit.com</a><br /></div><div><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/a7Av0sdahzU&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/a7Av0sdahzU&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Nitikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03559674890374830213noreply@blogger.com1