New collectors drive Indian art market surge, says Christie’s
NEW DELHI : The art market in India, riding on a decade-long upward trend, has seen a significant boost during the pandemic, led by a small group of dedicated Indian collectors. The emergence of a new category of Indian buyers who collect luxury products through auction houses highlights the growing interest in art. Although Christie’s discontinued its India auctions business a few years ago, the British art auction house remains positive about collector interest from the Indian subcontinent.
Having sold artworks worth ₹400 crore in these previous auctions, Christie’s believes that India will continue to be a significant market for the auction house in the years to come. Sonal Singh, managing director of Christie’s Indian department, emphasized its focus on modernist and contemporary art, which has played a prominent role in its Indian sales. In a global auction in March, a remarkable 60% of the bidding activity came from India.
“The market has changed a huge amount. It is a really good time to sell since the market is strong. There is a huge appetite for material that has not been seen before, and people are selling them.
When there is high-quality material, people will step out to buy, in spite of what the economic situation may be," Singh said. The auction house saw record sales of $8.4 billion in the year following the pandemic. Christie’s acquires artworks from both India and outside, including private collections.
This approach provides opportunities to find previously undiscovered artworks by esteemed artists such as V.S. Gaitonde, M.F. Husain, and H.S.
Raza. The auction house expects to see more contemporary art in Indian auctions and believes that overlooked artists will gain greater recognition. Additionally,
. Read more on livemint.com
