The fevered art market is seeing the birth of many a venture. The Fuschia Tree is one of the more novel of these.
Chanda Chaudhary Barrai laughs a lot. Perched on the edge of the sofa at the coffee shop in The Oberoi, her back ramrod straight, she breaks out, time and again, into a hearty chuckle as we talk about The Fuschia Tree, her latest venture, how she came to set it and what she hopes to do with it.
“It was an idea that was so obvious I’m amazed no one had done it before,” she trills, throwing back her frizzy waist-length hair. Barrai has a point, though it’s not entirely true that no one has had a similar idea before — people have, in bits and pieces, although they may not have brought it all together the way Barrai has.
The Fuschia Tree, or TFT for short, is an online art gallery where you can see and buy original works of art or prints thereof from all over the world — Peru, Botswana, Kazhkhstan, Kenya, Canada, Thailand. You might not have heard of artists like Jose De La Barra or Andre Raputo or Anthony Okello, but what does that matter? Especially if you like what you see and can get it for as little Rs 50,000? As Barrai says, “At the end of the day, it’s just a pretty picture.”
TFT works out well for the artists too, especially beginners and the little-known who can upload their works for free and have some control over the dissemination of the image — TFT has invested in Lock Lizard anti-piracy software so no one can take unauthorised printouts. No wonder, since July 30 when the website launched, TFT has gathered 210 artists (only 35-40 of them Indian) at the rate of three-four a day, and Barrai says she’ll probably end the year with 1,500-2,000 on her list.
But it’s not just originals; TFT offers Giclee prints, supposedly the best, most state-of-the-art mode of mechanically reproducing a work of art where the printer “squirts” ink onto the canvas, giving it depth and texture. “It’s weird, even the brush strokes can be made out,” says Barrai. At present, TFT has tied up with printers in Hong Kong (where she lives) for the Giclee prints, but hopes to have her own printing facilities soon.
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Affordability is the mantra at TFT, but Barrai’s business plan is not structured around getting the net-enabled art enthusiast to buy. Barrai’s primary target are interior design professionals on the lookout for “that perfect objet d’art to decorate your walls”. It’s a personal insight that set off Barrai. “I was decorating my mother’s house and I simply couldn’t find a work that I both liked and could afford. I didn’t like what I could afford and everything I liked was unaffordable.”
To that end, TFT has organised its first off-site exhibition, Mint Green, around the colour that trendcasters say will define the spring 2009 season. It’s something of a coming out party where Barrai will be gauging reactions to her baby. Many have shown interest, including one chap who “called up to say that he had a budget of Rs 75,000 and needed a hundred works. We had to tell him that we were affordable, not cheap.”
But affordable art, international artists — these are not Barrai’s USP. What is, is TFT’s unique “exchange” policy. You can buy a Giclee print on archival paper today (guaranteed for 87 years) and if you don’t like it or are tired of it in a year, you can exchange it for another, minus 30 per cent of its value. If you keep it for two years, you add another 15 per cent, and so on with the exchange depreciation capped at 60 per cent.
“Auction houses trade in pre-owned art, so why should it surprise that a gallery does the same?” says Barrai who’s keeping her fingers crossed somewhat on the success of TFT. Methinks, she’d be better placed making arrangements to contain the crowds when the exhibition goes up on the 24th.