Ranjit Batra wants to make Van Gogh, M F Husain, S H Raza, Amrita Shergil and Bhupen Khakhar - in fact, all the high gurus of art - household names. The coterie syndrome, where only a select few have access to art, is an imbalance which Batra has set out to correct. Which is why this ad man started Art Mart - a one-stop shop for prints of artists such as Renoir and Anjolie Ela Menon. Started last September, Art Mart already has a regular clientele, mostly interior decorators and architects mixed with art lovers.As an advertising man who runs his own agency, he recognised the importance of selling a product and used the relevant print media to reach his target audience. He is also quick to point out his USP: "We do not insist on selling prints along with a frame, something most other shops do to make money." This explains why his prices can be as low as Rs 50 - though the upper end can be as high as Rs 5,000 for a signed print.But sometimes even for the highest stakes, Batra finds that getting hishands on a print is near impossible. His brochure may read like an art history encylopaedia but the number of paintings per artist is limited. "Established artists don't want to give copyright of their works as they are afraid that nobody would buy the original. But they do give their work for reproduction in greeting cards as that is free publicity for them," complains Batra. So the prints available in the shop are usually limited editions of certain works printed by artists themselves - as is the case with the Menon, B Prabha and N S Bendre prints available here. Batra also sources some of his prints from galleries or organisations like the Lalit Kala Akademi. He also spends his weekends gallery-hopping. If he likes an artist, he sounds them out about Art Mart. "In some cases, younger artists leave their originals with me too," he says.But sometimes obtaining even a print, works out too expensive. Foreign artists like Renoir and Monet - easily available abroad - come with an import duty of 20 per centplus a surcharge of 25 percent. Add all this and the print is already out of budget.Fortunately for him, mainstream Indian tastes run along more basic lines. Eye candy such as pretty pastels of flowering creepers and girls with blonde hair flying in the wind have a huge market. "People demand pictures which are soothing to the eye," says Batra. Which is why his stock invariably includes religious icons such as Geet Govind - staple adornment in Gujarati and Marwari houses.Also the kind of pictures slotted as calendar art rake in the bucks for Batra, even in a city like Mumbai which boasts of sophisticated tastes. Kings romancing apsaras in verdant gardens or scenes from the Mahabharata and Ramayana, painted in lush colours still capture popular imagination. And for these, he does not have to look very far. His father, the late Ratan Batra, ran a studio on the same premises and Batra inherited his huge collection which included calendar art.But individual buyers are notBatra's ultimate market and his scouring around for talent reveals a larger scheme. He wants Art Mart to become the biggest publisher of prints by Indian artists. His market will be shops like Satgurus, galleries and film and television production agencies. "We use only imported paper and our printing is of international standards," says Batra. To give his potential customers a preview of the quality, the shop recently came out with an edition of sketches by Imperial British artists. These are available in sets of four for Rs 165 and individually for Rs 50 each.Batra started the business with an initial investment of Rs 2.5 lakh and hopes to break even in another year and a half. If the print run favours him, his limited editions could have an unlimited reach.
