How does an art lawyer handle the trickiness of deciphering fakes and forgeries?

If the seller puts more value on a letter authenticating the artwork by a deceased individual instead of documents that trace the 'provenance trail' – the place of origin, it rings alarm bells for me that the work is either fake or stolen," explained India's only art lawyer, Debottam T Bose, at a recent lecture, held at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya museum, to familiarise Indian audiences with the subject of art law. Bose, was in the middle of describing that instance when he was called to validate an Amrita Sher-Gil painting. The family of the seller – an artist who was no longer alive, had all the documents of the painting in place, including an authentication letter. While fact checking, Bose located a gentleman in Zurich who had continuously corresponded with the deceased seller, and asked him to study the letter if it was indeed by the seller. The Zurich gentleman responded with two observations: the artist had died in penury and the telephone number on the letterhead also had the city code, which wasn't the case in the previous letters. From these Bose concluded that the painting was an 'orphan'/ stolen work because the artist could've died a wealthy man if he had sold the Sher-Gil work, and that the 'old school' never change their letterhead. It was being attached to a dead person to confuse art sleuths. "Many buy art purely for aspirational and investment reasons, but are unaware art is a highly liquid class domain, a fairly non transparent world with a slew of hidden costs and many risks. That's where I come in."

Bose worked as a project finance lawyer with firms in London and New York since 2004, before he ventured into art law full-time in 2009. He now assists in acquiring or disposing artworks, under confidentiality for private collectors, family offices, artists, restorers, curators, auction houses, dealers, galleries hospitals, museums and universities. "Art law is investigative. You have to physically see the artwork, meet buyers, their lawyers, source and consult art experts, compare market prices, taxes and other legalities to finally arrive at whether a work is absolutely kosher?" says Bose, who guest lectures at law schools, including the Harvard Law School.

An unbelievably low priced artwork can raise serious questions on authenticity. "When a Manjit Bawa's Krishna, that usually sells for Rs 1.5-2 crore, hits the market at only Rs 50 lakh, clients assume they've got the best deal," observes Bose, adding that Bawa, Jehangir Sabavala and Jamini Roy's works are the most duplicated.

This art history graduate from the School of Oriental & African Studies, London, marries his law and art background well. For instance, he's learnt that the prolific modern artist Jamini Roy, in a bid to make his artworks more affordable and accessible to the public, at times, had his students draw the outlines, while he coloured within, and signed the works. "With a Roy work in the market the question must be asked, 'who painted the work, the artist or his students'?"

Bose's expertise also include knowledge of a 'tax haven' or 'free ports' in Singapore, Geneva, Zurich, and New Jersey, where people hoard all sorts of high value collectibles to sell when the price go up. He feels India must go Japan's way, relaxing laws on buying and selling artworks of any country. Incidentally, he thinks of GST as a blessing in disguise as it has uniformed rates across India and put a check on buyers of who only pay in cash. "But just as people have found a way to not pay VAT, they might with GST too..." says the legal eagle.

So legally, can India get back the Kohinoor diamond stolen by Britain? "Even if the Kohinoor is returned, is there a plan on how it will be showcased? As in 'will we house it at Rashtrapati Bhavan or the Red Fort or create a special museum for it?'... this kind of dialogue is yet to happen."