INDIAN
ART
Two years ago, Indian artist Tyeb
Mehta's Mahisasura sold for
nearly $1.6 million at a Christie's
auction. This shattered the glass
ceiling. Since then, with the impact
of globalisation,
excitement around Indian art has spiraled.
In 2006, Christie's
worldwide sales of Modern and Contemporary
Indian Art netted $42.2 million. This
boom has attracted both private collectors
and international investment funds.
Global interest in Indian art has
also been nurtured by an increasing
number of international exhibitions
and prestigious museum buys.
As the works of
the old Indian masters — M.F.
Husain, Ram Kumar, Akbar Padamsee
and S.H. Raza — became prohibitively
expensive, buyer attention shifted
to a younger generation, throwing
up new buzz-names:
Atul Dodiya,
Paresh Maity,
Bose Krishnamachari,
Sujata Bajaj,
Iranna G.R., to name just a few.
Today, the auction
market for Indian art alone is worth
$150 million, up from $52 million
just the year before.
Compelled by this
buoyant atmosphere, Tehelka
is organizing an ambitious high glitz,
high-buzz art auction in London. Constructed
to be a high-profile showcase of Indian
art, Art for Freedom
will feature canvases painted jointly
by top-line Indian artists and eminent
citizens. Each canvas presented will
be a unique piece of great curiosity
and value.
Art For
Freedom is being mounted
in support of independent media.
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