Another gavel pounding launch

The debut of one more auction house and prospects of more records for more artists.

This evening, when BBC television host Tim Wonnacott brings down the gavel on lot number one in an auction of 144 works of modern and contemporary Indian paintings at The Grand in New Delhi, he will in effect have launched India's newest-off-the-block auction house, Triveda.

For its maiden auction, Triveda has put together all the right accoutrements "" an admirable enough collection of art, a decent (but not comprehensive) catalogue, 200-odd bidders (though not all of them will be physically present to make their bids, some preferring to make them anonymously over the telephone "" perhaps even from their rooms in the same hotel), and even consultant Patrick Bowring.

Bowring had launched Bowrings as an Indian auction house a few years ago, but ran afoul of the law and the case has been in court for a few years. "Meanwhile," Bowring gazes over the rims of his glasses, "I'm glad to be doing this."

"This" means travelling around the country to suss out and authenticate works that have been consigned to the auction house for sale. But the main surprise behind the auction house is the founder-owners, chairman Nina Pillai (widow of the former biscuit baron Rajan Pillai, part-time celebrity columnist and socialite) and her husband Hariram Shastri, who heads a Rs 11,000 crore petro-chemicals enterprise. Avid collectors both, Shastri says, "Art is no more a hobby, it is an investment. That we are both collectors is irrelevant."

Nor is it simply a case of art lovers turning art dealers, Shastri is at pains to point out. "To avoid conflict of interest, I will neither bid at the auction, nor sell anything I own through it," he says.

And Bowring adds, "Triveda will not own any works, it will simply accept consigned works for auctions. At no time in the past, or future, will any of the works being auctioned by it be owned by it."

For now, the auction space in India is dominated by Osian's, which does own many of the works that are auctioned by it, and of course, several thousand others that are part of its collection of what its founder-chairman, Neville Tuli, calls "institution building".

Others in the space include Saffronart, dominant in the online auction space, and Apparao Galleries, which is still considered lightweight by many.

That international auction houses Sotheby's, Christie's and Bonhams have included Indian art as part of their annual calendar is simply a reflection of how well the market (estimated at Rs 1,100 crore this year) is doing globally.

But is there space for another auction house in India? "Just because you hold an auction doesn't make you an auction house," says Tuli waspishly.

Tuli says he has spent a decade building a public atmosphere, long-term vision and knowledge base for art, clearing out a bulwark of black money from the trade and putting in place high ethical standards. "If you can't aspire to the highest levels, everything else will be compromised."

For now though, Shastri and Pillai could hardly be blamed less for looking ahead (their calendar, incidentally, includes six annual shows, four in India and one each in Dubai and London) than what the auction tonight might bring.

At first glance, the price estimates look steep, though Shastri contests that, saying absentee bids in many cases are already far in excess of the estimates. "The estimates," he says, "are ours, but the prices will finally be determined by buyers."

Gallerists whose works are on consignment at the auction are excited about the prospects of the sale, but would rather not comment on the squabble for dominance in the auction space in the country.

"Everything depends on what drives an institution," says Tuli, who will be present and bidding at the auction, "because it can't be built for just [making] money." "It is a business," insists Shastri. Tonight, we'll know.