As 2014 leaches away, it is with a sense of melancholy and regret about opportunities lost. Yes, there were the auctions - and some interesting results. Yes, the galleries put up some - but not enough - interesting exhibitions. No new stars twinkled brightly on the firmament, though some promise showed on the horizon. The market remained tight-fisted, but at least it didn't sink further. The Gaitonde retrospective at the Guggenheim was the country's one stellar moment internationally. The second biennale in Kochi came around to mark the end of the year. And just as 2014 began with the art fair in Delhi, another edition lies ahead, but will it bring anything new?
The sense of inertia and fatigue that had dampened spirits since 2008 has now rooted itself firmly into the psyche. False starts no longer warrant enthusiasm. The halcyon acche din of art are like a chimera, a fading memory of 2002-08 when prices rather than quality mattered, when new artists had to be invented because existing ones couldn't keep up with the demand. At least in that sense, these trying times have been helpful in winnowing the wheat from the chaff. The falsity of pricing - remember the art funds that collapsed? - was a bubble.
Testing times trigger changes. Alas, the art market has yielded few surprises, come up with few innovative strategies. The endless waiting for something good to come has the feel of passing the buck - yet, that buck must stop somewhere. That its prime movers and shakers were mere worshippers at the altar of mammon had become evident, but as always, it has at least cleared the fog in public perception that buying art must not be part of a herd reaction. If buyers now compare prices and refuse to submit to curatorial mumbo-jumbo, one can only hail them for breaking from the shackles of blind faith. Around the world, iconic collections have been built not on popular sentiment but in breaking free from market-led sophistry.
This year, therefore, I doff my hat to the intelligent buyer who looks for works of high quality at the right price, has the courage and patience to wait, no longer trusts his gut or instinct, and is no more afraid to seek genuine professional advice. This audacity of conviction has been hard won in a space where to ask questions was an invitation to being jeered, where bigger was simply better, and more was - what else? - simply more.
The buyer now courts discounts not merely because they are available for the asking but because he believes in right pricing. This will, of course, change when the markets change - if the markets change - but it has led to a degree of due diligence that collectors were simply not putting in earlier. Fads are no longer current. This has put pressure especially on contemporary artists, but it has also led to a reevaluation of what makes good art - and the previous years have been sufficient to prove that longevity as a criterion has not passed muster for many artists who made the most news in the last decade. It has helped us look more seriously at those who have survived the crash and proved their mettle in a difficult environment because their art matters.
Good has also come in the recognition of the right efforts, such as those at Khoj, which has managed to retain its mindspace, assisted by those who believe it is efforts like these that have the power to change the dynamics and fuel the art-making practice in the present and the future. It's just one instance of why 2015 presents the collector with both challenge - and hope.
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
