Spring Sales Speculations

Next week, New York City will be the place to be for Indian contemporary art, as both Christies and Sotheby’s will be holding their first auctions of the year for this genre. Six months and a long winter have passed since their last—and by perusing the online catalogues posted on their websites, a few casual observations can be noted that indicate some trends since 2006.

One, breaking the million-dollar mark has become passé. It wasn’t too long ago when this barrier was celebrated; now, the question seems to be how many more will join the club. Several works by PAG masters have reached the seven-figure record recently—it will be interesting to see how many more will this year.

Speaking of the million-dollar mark, this is the first auction that has set a pre-sale high-end estimate for that figure. Christie’s will offer up Tyeb Mehta’s oil on canvas entitled Diagonal XV, set at $750,000 to $1,000,000. With the market shooting upward the past few years, it will no doubt surpass the asking price. Which brings us to observation number two—pre-sale estimates in general seems to have escalated since last year. Of course, this is mere conjecture and is based solely on a very general comparison of last fall vs. current catalogues. With that obviously, are other factors including quality of the work, name value, market factors, and media used.

That leads into observation number three—a rundown of the works for sale seem to show an increase in watercolors, sketches, and sculptures. Perhaps this is not surprising since PAG oils and acrylics on canvas are out of financial reach for most of us. To own a Souza or Husain, one may have to settle for a pencil drawing that will sell for a fraction of their masterworks. These pieces, some estimated in the lower four-figures, may satisfy the average collector’s pocketbook and may likewise prove to be a wise choice of investment in the future.

Before exiting out of the online catalogues, one last observation should be noted, and this centers on the offerings of second and third generation Indian artists who have also been selling very well recently. It will be most interesting to see if this trend continues and if they will become the “next hot thing” beyond the Progressives. With bounding international appeal unabated, will they also continue their dazzling upward performances?

It will be only a very short time until these speculations are answered—Christie’s “Modern and Contemporary Indian Art” auction will take place on March 21st; Sotheby’s “Indian Art including Miniatures and Modern Paintings”, the following day. It’s probably not much of a prognostication to suggest that prices will keep climbing higher.