Is art really outpriced? For everyone who claims that the best artists are unaffordable for even the upper middle class, there have always been works that are more reasonably priced on an investment-value scale that is escalatory, but which tend to be overlooked in the (wrong) belief that a lithograph or an etching is not an original work of art.
Therefore, it was with considerable interest that punters viewed the first of Saffronart’s new series of 24-hour auctions intended, clearly, for those who don’t have huge budgets, but want to be part of the rarefied world of art buying. That auction consisted of artists’ drawings and books on art and artists (which should spur collecting of art books and memorabilia, particularly when signed by the artist), and now a second auction scheduled for May 18-19 carries forward the idea that collectability is not — nor should be — limited to large oil or acrylic canvases, watercolours and the like. It could well act as the catalyst for a large number of amateur collectors looking for legitimacy for their purchases of artist’s editions. If only the better-known collectors would air these with pride, what a difference it would make for the collecting public.
In particular, what is appealing is that here are sellable names from the marquee of Indian art, those thought inaccessible by so many, who are within reach at the estimates provided for the Editions auction that, besides lithos and etchings, includes photographic prints. Among the new crop of contemporaries, top of the pick (and also the most expensive) is the current rage and everyone’s darling after his first Indian showing in Mumbai and New Delhi, Anish Kapoor. A set of eight aquatints by him titled Blackness from Her Womb is estimated at Rs 8-10 lakh. On the other hand, Subodh Gupta — him of the “utensils” fame — has a pair of digital c-prints on paper at an estimated Rs 3-4 lakh.
For those who really want to spend only in the vicinity of a half-lakh, give or take 10,000, there’s enough choice to pick from — lithographs by Akbar Padamsee and K G Subramanyam, etchings by Anjolie Ela Menon, A Ramachandran, Anupam Sud, B Prabha, Bhupen Khakhar, Shibu Natesan and Surendran Nair, and serigraphy prints by Arpita Singh and Krishen Khanna. Priced somewhat higher are lithos by Riyas Komu, etchings by A Balasubramaniam, and both etchings and lithos by Somnath Hore.
Among the finds, and appropriately more expensive, are Zarina Hashmi’s Stars woodcut for Rs 1-1.25 lakh and Journey to the Edge of the Land etching for Rs 3-4 lakh and Nasreen Mohamedi’s untitled lithograph for the same amount. V S Gaitonde is eminently pickable with three lithographs priced variously between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 2.17 lakh, while Tyeb Mehta’s lithograph Head appears a steal at Rs 4-5 lakh. Atul Dodiya’s Sabari Shaking Mondrain in mixed media print on handmade paper is estimated at Rs 2.75-3.25 lakh.
There are photographs as well, unique prints as well as editions by Shilpa Gupta (many will remember her iconic There is No Border Here, estimated for Rs 1.5-1.8 lakh), N S Harsha (Rain, Rs 1.9-2.2 lakh), Vivek Vilasini’s monumental kathakali mask wearers (Between One Shore and Several Others, Rs 4-5 lakh), S Paul’s Jaggery Maker (Rs 40,000-60,000) and works by Pushpamala N and Clare Arni, and by Anita Dube.
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Since there’s no knowing how the bids will pan out, prices could move higher than the estimates, or lower. And with some of those estimates beginning at Rs 30,000 for lithos, etchings and prints, and as low as Rs 13,050 for two etchings by Paramjit Singh, one can no longer accuse all art of being expensive or beyond one’s reach.
Kishore Singh is a Delhi-based writer and art critic. These views are personal and do not reflect those of the organisation with which he is associated