Artful spending

While some might enjoy buying art as a hobby or a passion,others consider it a serious commitment and as innumerable artists have been launched recently,the decision of what or whom to buy has become increasingly difficult. Andy Dalvani,an art investor for the last 20 years,attempts to make it easier. “Investing in art is a long term process and it is very important that you love the art. It is also essential for you to dig deep in order to understand what the artist does,where he comes from,how he has progressed over the years,” he adds. Speaking of Pune specifically,he says,“Art investors and gallery owners in the city are trying to create a platform for artists in the city for an exchange of their art and idea,” says Dalvani.

Another problem with investment in art arises from the artists themselves. Young artists are painting for the sake of returns and not for the joy of it “They might do so due to personal economic problems,I believe they are doing an injustice to themselves. It is not healthy for any artist to stick to only one style of painting because that is what is selling well. It results in stagnation of their creativity,” explains Mariyam Ashraf Bahrainwala,an artist and a founder of Platform 15,a group that promotes young talent in the art field.

Milind Sathe,the Founder of India Art Gallery,who believes that it was the recession that checked blatant commercialisation of art says,“When the art boom was going on,there was a lot of mediocre art coming into the market. As everything was selling,this sold as well. During the good times,prices got artificially inflated with these artists just feeding this demand. When the global recession happened,some investors got a rude shock. Recession has led to them spending more carefully and has also ended unnecessary speculation of prices.”