Standing the test of time

Recession seems to be a thing of the past for the Indian art market, especially the modernists. They seem to be the ones who stood the test of time during the slowdown. Among the masters, MF Husain and FN Souza’s works were the clear winners. Just below them were artists like SH Raza, Akbar Padamsee, VS Gaitonde and Tyeb Mehta.

Maithili Parekh from Sotheby’s says, “Top works by modern Indian masters have remained resilient through the economic downturn.

Husain’s untitled work from 1955, which was exhibited at the Venice Biennale, sold at over $1 million at the recent Sotheby’s March 2010 auction in New York. In June 2009, Orange Head by Francis Newton Souza saw strong competition from a number of buyers before selling for $658,628 — more than three times the presale high estimate. This price represented the highest price of the summer auction series of Indian art at any auction house. And in 2008, Souza’s Red Road sold for over a million US dollars. These show that high quality works stand the test of time and are always sought after.”

Dinesh Vazirani from Saffron art says, “I think Souza, Husain and others of the progressive art group have a very large base of collectors over the last 50 years who are looking at premium, good quality works of vintage collections. And also very few of these are available.”

Dadiba Pundole, a dealer of Husain’s works, says, “I wouldn’t say that the two master artists were not affected by recession at all. They were, but much lesser than the others. Even during the tough times prices of their works remained strong and stable.”