New Delhi, Jan 16: With growing popularity of
Indian art in the global market, Indian auction houses are now
taking Indian art to foreign shores.
"The art market in India is widely untapped and has a
huge potential. There will be a 5-7 percent hike in art
market in the next year. More and more people from all
sections of society are buying art not only for investment but
also for aesthetic purposes," Mr Maher Dadha Chairman and MD,
Bid & Hammer said.
The company is going to auction art and artifacts of
10 crores on its inaugural auction in Bangalore on January 24.
With plans to increase it with a turn-over of Rs 60 crores for
the year 2008-09. The prices will be starting from 30,000 to
up to Rs 50 lakhs. With plans afoot of branches in New York,
Hong Kong and London to start with it will also tap the yet
virgin Africa art mart.
" We plan to go global, with auctions in New York,
Hong Kong and London. We will also tap new markets like
Tanzania and Nigeria. Along with Indian art and artifacts we
will also focus on local and international artists," Dadha
said.
The Indian art market is estimated to be about USD 400
million and increasing but it is very minuscule compared to
world art market says the auctioneer.
Maher Dadha, Chairman, Bid & Hammer, added that the
though the Indian art market was growing with the young
software professionals also showing interest, it was the
foreign market that gave "higher value and higher attention to
Indian contemporary art".
With cases of fake art not uncommon in the art
world. The authenticity of the art work is very important. And
herein comes the work of such auction houses, he said.
Cricket commentator Charu Sharma, Executive Director
of the auction house said, "I always had an passion for art
and now that my friend has decided to open this venture I will
very much enjoy this business. With the growing popularity of
Indian art is very important to be able to trust the work."
Bureau Report
