Husain's horses on the home stretch

Business Class

Husain is undoubtedly the most popular artist India has ever known. In the last half century, he has become not only the symbol of Indian art but also a metaphor for the development of the entire art market.

A publicity genius, Husain's paintings continue to work as trophies for the noveau riche, investments for traders, a saviour for charities, liquidity for dealers, bribes for politicians and a must have for the connoisseur.

Husain, after having ruled the contemporary art scene in India till the early 90s saw his market collapse rapidly due to a variety of reasons.

However, his sharp comeback in the new millennium has become the most successful and paradoxical turnaround the art market has ever witnessed. Husain's market is truly an interesting journey.

By the early 60s Husain was known in a small coterie of wealthy industrialists and select expatriates where he sold paintings for a few hundred rupees. His association with US-based collector Chester Herwitz, ensured him sales for the next three decades.

By the 70s he was clearly far ahead of any of his contemporaries selling for up to Rs10,000 a major painting.

Husain was able to maintain his position at the top till the early 90s. His paintings were now quoted in square inches, irrespective of the quality, and he had become a status symbol.

In 1989 he was in the news for selling a painting at an auction for over Rs 10 lakh, a first for an Indian. By 1990, his prices were far more than that of Ravi Varma and even Amrita Shergill.

But behind the high prices, lavish birthday parties, government and hotel commissions and the larger than life persona, Husain's market was nothing more than a classic case of an artificial demand supply gap controlled by the artist.

Things began to get out of control for Husain in the 90s, as art dealers and auction houses multiplied. Scholarship, reading material and more importantly, the development of the secondary market increased sharply leading to a revaluation of artists and prices.

B-grade Husains flooded dealers and auctions and prices came under severe pressure. The artist's market had gone beyond his control for the first time. The Herwitz grand liquidation of over 200 Husains in 1995 at Sotheby's was too much for the market to absorb and his market completely collapsed.

Husain's infatuation with Bollywood didn't quite help when he decided to give the market scores of "NRI quality" paintings each month to fund his dream project, Gaj Gamini.

Even though his older paintings continued to sell occasionally for decent prices, his fresh paintings soon found their way back into the market creating more havoc than anyone could imagine.

In 2001, Tyeb Mehta's sale of a single painting for over Rs 1.5 crore served as a wake up call to Husain who wasted no time in conjuring up a strategy to regain his position as the numero uno.

Within a few months, Husain publicly announced that at Rs 2 crore, his private sale of a mammoth eight-panelled mural was now the most expensive Indian work of art. It worked. Husain completely stopped giving works into the market but offered works from his own studio to anyone at five times the market prices.

Thus poor quality Husains continued to get lapped up by ignorant collectors pushing up the prices. Some of his dealers continued to buy works from the resale market and at auctions pushing prices up further.

A frenzied bull run began for Husain. Suddenly, everyone wanted a Husain at any price irrespective of the quality, as they were shown the returns of the last two years with very little floating stock and the prices at Husain's own studio.

Three months ago, a bunch of very average Husains sold for Rs 12-15 lakh at a sale on the Internet, three times what they were for just three years ago! Husain's market is back with a bang.

This year Husain turns 88 and plans a show of 88 works with a gallery in Kolkata by the name of Gallery 88. Is this the next gimmick? Is this another bubble waiting to burst? Only time and above all the quality of the picture will tell.