Indian Summer In London

Uma Nair

Its been and Indian summer in London in terms of Indian Contemporary Art. Absolute Indian art exhibitions have been running through the months of May and June with ace abstractionist Ram Kumar's works at Grosvener Vadehras.

`London is a market that is somewhat nascent,' says Meena Hingorani, the art dealer and connoisseur who has spent a month in London watching the gleanings of the auction scene in London. `In terms of understanding and recognizing the importance and worth of Indian art, its still maturing,' she adds. Sakshi Gallery brought in Rekha Roddwittiya's

`Prices in Indian art must be more reasonable,' says a banker turned collector in London. `Buyers in London are reaching back to India and finding our prices in the Indian context ,so a number of galleries that brought in works and sold them for 200% profits have now been boycotted in the recent past by a number of collectors and buyers,' says the banker. `Authenticity and honesty in transactions are the utmost in the art trade, and everyone now wants that upmarket transparency,' he adds. 

While the Indian art boom has been somewhat of an entity since the past 3 years, the past few months have suddenly become easier to understand. Not that the art empties out its tough ideas and becomes more glossy or simple-minded. Rather, the picture of what Indian art  is around the gallery places in London grows sharper, as the possibilities of what to see and buy grow finer and deeper.` There are at least 200 galleries cum buyers and dealers,' says a dealer who plans to bring in a food and art combine in his restaurants in the years to come.

According to a number of art watchers in London there has been a stumbling of prices and takers in the international bids, with the latest Bonhams Tehelka Auction being the hallmark of a `debut of a disaster'. `But it seems Indian newspapers carried glorified tales of Tehelka which made the whole issue an impetus in irony. The London market has been full of new waanabees who come in one day make their money and are out the next.' says this dealer. `Realistic prices are what stabilizes a market. It cannot carry along with a bubble that keeps growing undendingly, what's more now buyers know all prices so galleries from Bangalore and Delhi cant fool us anymore.'

For instance Ram Kumar's latest show in London at Grosvener, showed a 50% sale in which most of the `buyers were from USA' rather than London. There seems to be clueless money in the market,' says a young banker in London who's looking at art for speculation. Dealers spring up from nowhere, with no knowledge whatsoever and once they make a quick buck they disappear,' says he.

One way of looking at high art prices is as part of a global wave of liquidity that is pushing up asset prices everywhere. "From Indian antiquities to modern Chinese art; from land in Panama to Mayfair; from forestry, infrastructure and the junkiest bonds to mundane blue chips; it's bubble time," says Jeremy Grantham of GMO, a fund-management group. So how does one come with a fair value?
It is virtually impossible to come up with a "fair value" for art. A share should trade at a price equal to the discounted value of the future cash flows received by the investor. But art has negative cash flows; it costs money to insure and store.

Instead, art is what economists call a "positional good": worth something because it is limited in supply and many people clamour to own it. But, just to make investing even more difficult, people clamour to buy different types of art at different times. The idea then is to find an emerging young artist and give it time to ride the wave. Either way the Indian summer in London, was an exercise in learning about the complexion of the market.