101: Art's smart number

BUSINESS CLASSS

When I started collecting, some 15 years ago, there were a handful of galleries, fewer prominent artists, no auctions and simply no books on Indian art that I could find.

I would cut up Madhu Jain's occasional articles on Indian art in India Today and eagerly await the next copy of The Illustrated Weekly, hoping for images and illustrations by some of India's leading artists.

I soon discovered that there was a book on Indian painters by Dr Geeta Kapoor, which I photocopied from an artist friend only to discover that for a boy in his teens, it was beyond comprehension.

Things began to change by the mid 1990s. Galleries started producing monographs on leading artists as well as show catalogues.

Later, books on the Baroda School and the Progressives were published, including Neville Tuli's coffee table book The Flamed Mosaic.

However, up till now, when someone who wants to enter the art world asks me which is the one book they should buy to understand the basics of Indian art, I'm at a loss.

This week sees the launch of Amrita Jhaveri's much-awaited smart and highly affordable paperback 101"" A Guide To Modern and Contemporary Art Indian Artists that should help change all that.

Amrita Jhaveri is no stranger to the art world. She was the first representative of Christie's in India. Born into a family of collectors, Jhaveri is rich in experience and, over the last few years, been able to build up a fine collection of Indian contemporary art in the country.

Her first book is thoroughly researched, easy to read and is richly, sensibly and accurately illustrated. The book is divided into two main parts, the 35 best selling artists and the 66 other important artists.

Jhaveri's jargon-free text gives the reader an excellent idea of the artists' working career, delineating the various stylistic shifts in the work accompanied by a painstakingly suitable image.

The book also comes with a price guide, which helps readers get an idea of the prices achieved at auction for various mediums of the artists' work.

Last but not the least, the guide lists every Indian art gallery, both in India and abroad, as well as the contact person for auction houses dealing with Indian art.

As the book hits the stands, the number 101 becomes more relevant to the Indian art world with the arrest of a Mumbai-based businessman who commissioned veteran artist M F Husain to make a 100 paintings for Rs 101 crore.

Last week, a small Tyeb Mehta painting made Rs 101 lakh at auction. Apart from symbolising continuity in India, 101 is the number assigned to most introductory courses in America.

And for all those who wanted to know more about Indian art but were too afraid to ask, I recommend this book 101 per cent.