Word: artful
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...understand where Indian art is going, it helps to look back. The fine arts in India depended on royal patronage - by the maharajahs and nawabs of India's princely states - well into the 20th century. After independence in 1947, the country's few industrialist families became the most important collectors, but the field remained as insular as their privately held companies. Over the past 10 years, India's economic boom created a new class of affluent, salaried professionals, particularly in technology companies. "The collector base has really increased," says Himanshu Verma, a curator and art consultant in New Delhi. "There...
...this new burst of demand rapidly pushed up prices and attracted speculators, generating a frenzy in India similar to the ones that engulfed the U.S. and European markets. An Indian auction house, Osian's, even began marketing a sort of mutual fund for fine art. Artists, too, developed unrealistic expectations. "Everyone wants to be Damian Hirst overnight," says Mumbai gallery owner Jai Bhandarkar...
...Buffeted by the global economic crisis, India's art bubble has deflated, with some pieces fetching just a quarter of what they once sold for. But art-world insiders say that's no bad thing. The collapse has driven out both the investment-driven buyers and those artists who succumbed to the temptation to produce derivative work simply because it sold well. Says Verma: "The quality is coming back into collecting...
...Accompanying it is a new drive to display these private collections in public spaces. State-run museums are devoted primarily to antiquities and a handful of acknowledged modern masters such as M.F. Husain and Amrita Sher-Gil. The vast majority of modern Indian art is either in private homes or displayed only when it's for sale in commercial galleries. The Poddar family opened the Devi Art Foundation partly because the collection had overtaken their home, and also because, as Lekha Poddar explains, the artists had a significance beyond her own pleasure. Galleries would "constantly direct people to our home...
...sharing their newfound enthusiasm. Swapan Seth, an advertising executive and collector in New Delhi, rents out an empty flat every few weeks to show off his latest finds to his friends, curating the shows and hanging the pieces himself. He spends at least two hours a day reading about art, educating himself about the artists he likes and how they fit into the world's larger artistic community. Seth buys most of his art online, but when he wants to see something in person, dealers in London and New York City will go to him. "They have an acute sense...