Artonomics

“An artist’s life is very difficult” admitted Khandekar,during the Q&A session. It would seem,then,that any tool that could make this rocky career path less bumpy would be welcomed with open arms,including understanding and utilising current markets. But this was not the discourse of the expert speakers.

Art markets exist,so why pretend they don’t? Art gallery-owner and collector Abhay Maskara explains that artists and markets have always maintained a “love-hate relationship”. With over 30 years in the business,Maskara says that above all “what you need is balance”.

As prices sky-rocketed over the last five years,artists were stretched to produce works to meet demands. But the global art market is contracting; it dropped 10 per cent at the beginning of 2009. Maskara underlines that as prices and output come back down to “healthy” levels,collectors have the money to buy and artists have the time to create.

The flip side: one in 10 buyers is no longer buying. Bose Krishnamachari,the other keynote speaker,gave no concrete advice for burgeoning artists who are more adversely affected by the current economic crisis. He has largely benefited from the art market,(his oeuvre entitled Plot selling for Rs 34 lakh at the Saffronart auction last year) but said simply that “everything has to be learned by yourself”.

The underlying fear of both Khandekar and Krishnamachari,47,was that markets may influence creative freedom. This is in no way,however,a new problem or limited to the visual arts. Journalists,for instance,sacrifice stylistic ingenuity for factuality in order to have a higher ranking on Google. Authors change plots,characters,and settings to comply with publisher’s demands. Like it or not,creativity comes at a cost.

But this does not necessarily mean being a slave to consumers. In the West,art markets are seen as another way of getting a foot up on the competition. This was certainly the philosophy of ‘Pop Art Prince’ Andy Warhol,whose personal fortune is second only to that of Pablo Picasso. He famously said that,“making money is art,and working is art,and good business is the best art”.