collectors

Abhishek Poddar, 40, Bangalore

together the

Pieces
indias most passionate art collectors open up their
vaults and display the works closest to their heart

by Varoon P anand

ny conversation about buying art in India starts with 2008. A nascent market
rides the crest of a wave swollen over two years, where an artist can sell for
over a million dollars and stock exchange traders stop work to follow online
auctions, suddenly stops dead slashed apart by the Lehman Brothers collapse.
Prices dropped by up to 70 per cent and almost an entire generation of artists was lost
to the commercial world, says Kishore Singh of the Delhi Art Gallery. Government apathy bloomed into persecution and finally, in 2010, the countrys most well known artist
surrendered his nationality. Since then, optimistic overtures in public are met in equal
measure by hopeless sighs in empty galleries. But thats all about to change. Again.
First off, while Indias entire art world is officially valued at just US$ 40 million (although unrecorded transactions more than double that figure), for the first time in history all of Indias 100 richest are billionaires. Market analyst ArtTactic in their December
2014 report claim confidence in the Indian art market, valuing it at its highest since November 2007, with dramatic growth for the struggling contemporary domain. Christies
couldnt match the US$ 15.4 million generated at last years inaugural auction in Mumbai, but still succeeded in doubling pre-sales estimates to US$ 12 million. Notably, India
will finally be represented at the Venice Biennale, the worlds premier non-commercial
art fair, in a collateral space with Pakistan. The key, though, is the Indian art collector.
Domestically focused, conventional and they can be quite fickle, is how Shireen
Gandhy of Chemould Prescott Road describes the buyer of Indian art. Then again, in
a country with but a handful of private initiatives, where relationships with artists are
nurtured carefully what can a patron rely on but instinct and a self-trained eye to guide
acquisitions? We sit down with collectors from across the country to understand their
tastes, choices, and what they see in store for the future.

48 india today spice u january, 2015

How did you become an Art Collector

I dont think anybody starts off being an

art collector. Do I see myself as one? Maybe
sometimes, but its not a label I would use
myself. There is no system to my collecting. Often, I look at a piece and feel that
if I dont have it, there would be something
missing in my life. Just keep your antenna
open and the wavelength catches. The great
thing about art is that there is always something interesting and exciting something
you didnt know existed, which attracts you.
Though i must say, of late, Ive been getting
rather bored with art, when it is narrowly
defined as contemporary and modern art
from India only.

The ties that bind

If there is one person who has played a pivotal role in my discovery of art, it is the late
Manjit Bawa. In 1987, intrigued by an article in the Illustrated Weekly featuring him,
I sought him out. He was a big influence and
mentor. I would call him an elder brother,
my guru and confidante. He held my hand
and shaped my understanding of art. My
most cherished moments in art are those
when I have made a deep connection with an
artist. My relationships with Manjit Bawa, or
Arpita Singh or Tyeb Mehta or J. Swaminathan, Ram Kumar, Bhupen Khakhar, Amit
Ambalal or Atul Dodiya, these are things that
money cant buy.

First Buy

I bought my first piece with my own money

in the mid-eighties on a visit to Calcutta. It
was a drawing by Jatin Das on which I spent
a princely sum of `1,100 or 1,200. I made

my first major art purchase, a work by Anjolie Ela Menon, at a gallery in Kolkata
Favourite Pieces

There is a particular work by Sailoz

Mookherjea that I really enjoy and there

Photograph by Selvaprakash Lakshmanan

putting

The scion of a prominent business family

and joint owner of the Tasveer galleries, a
pan-Indian project that started eight years
ago to exhibit photographs and to promote
photography, Poddar began an annual art
magazine when he was at boarding school
so he could get out of class.

Poddar at the tasveer

gallery office with
mother earth sculpture
in bronze and
untitled mobile by
Maria Anthony

with inputs from

Akhila Seetharaman

are those by Meera Mukherjee, a sculptor.

Theres Jamini Roy and Manjit Bawa. Other
artists whose works I have collected include
Arpita Singh, Bhupen Kakkar, KG Subramanyam, Jyoti Bhatt, Jogen Choudhary
and Jayashree Chakravarty. Internationally,
I admire Julian Opie greatly.

Missed Opportunity

A piece that was out of my budget that I really wanted to have and which I didnt have
ultimately was an Amrita Shergill. This was
in 1986 or 1987. I took my dad with me
because it was beyond my budget. The
sum they were asking was five lakh rupees. My budget was two lakh rupees. After
negotiations, me going up, and them coming down, there was still a gap of `50,000. I
didnt get it.
january, 2015 u india today spice 49

collectors

Priya Paul, 47, New Delhi

Relationship to Art

Art is something very personal and every

person looks at art differently. We have a
very meditative work in differing hues of
greens and aquas by Vasudeo Gaitonde
which has such a luminous quality that we
wonder what kind of paints he was using to
create that effect. When we sit in front of the
work, we discover something new each time
we look at it. Ultimately, our relationship
with art is something very personal.

What draws you to Art

Collecting art has not only become a joint

passion for us but we love seeing it on our
walls and our children enjoy it too. It also
makes us happy to share our art and you
can see some of our commissioned works at
the Fortis Hospitals. It is exciting to see how
many people engage with art in a novel setting. Over the years our eye has evolved and
our tastes too have matured. Today we are
looking to add to our collection of abstract
art and the modern masters, either in terms
of addressing the key works of the artists
themselves or works from different parts of
their evolutionary journey, as artists. We are
also very keen to support and add the work
of newer artists to our expanding collection.

Photograph by VIVAN MEHRA

Favourite Pieces

Malvinder Singh, 40, New Delhi

Malvinder Singh and his wife, Japna, may
have Indias most valuable modern and contemporary art collection, but their discretion about their biggest purchases makes the
extent of it a mystery. Singh also is the creator of the Religare Arts Initiative that promulgates all manner of activities and brings
art closer to people, through understanding
and appreciation, while simultaneously creating and supporting an environment conducive to the growth of Art.
50 india today spice u january, 2015

Singh poses in front

of his painting of
Gulammohammed
Sheikhs speaking
tree and facing
navjot altafs
untitled sculpture

We have collected some important works

of Tyeb Mehta, Rameshwar Broota, Bhupen Khakhar, Arpita Singh, Vasudeo
Gaitonde. Artists who have been really
tough on themselves and not too prolific.
We like Francis Souza, for the sheer intensity
of his work. Amongst some of our favourites
are, Arpitas Wish Dream, Bhupens Gallery of Rogues, Brootas Ape series, Souzas
beasts of prey. We do tend to lean strongly
towards the moderns. One of our favou-

rite works amongst so many is actually a

bronze sculpture by Tyeb Mehta of a bulls
head. It is so raw and tactile that you can
sense what kind of a struggle it was for the
artist to make and cast it. Another sculpture by Anish Kapoor in alabaster has a
translucence that makes it look as if it was
lit from within.
Wish List

The modern masters, Tyeb Mehta, V.S. Gaitonde, S.H. Raza and F.N. Souza are the
artists whose works appeal the most to our

As the Chairperson of Apeejay Surrendra

Park Hotels in India, Paul first rose to prominence for repositioning the hotels as Indias
first and only collection of contemporary
luxury boutique hotels. Armed with a BA in
Economics from Wellesley College and since
completing the Owner President Management Program at Harvard Business School,
Paul routinely finds herself on every list of
Indias most powerful business women. Her
collection of old posters, calendars, postcards,
commercial advertisements, textile labels and
cinema posters, painstakingly accumulated
over several decades is one of the finest archives of such ephemera in India. She is a
founding member of the World Travel and
Tourism Council, and has been conferred the
Aatithya Ratna Award by Hotel Investment
Forum India, 2011, for seamlessly combining
contemporary art and high-function design
with a spirit of hospitality. She was also conferred the Padma Shri in 2012.

Whats in Store

priya paul stands

next to a bust by
ravindra reddy

I started collecting 20-25 years ago but

things have changed in the present atmosphere. Younger artists are coming up from
the rest of the country. There are times
when I pursue gaps in my collection from
auctions, but I always went for contemporary Indian art. Ive never gone for international artists. It was a conscious decision
and I was tempted at time to indulge, but I
wanted to make sure I had a focus.

Art Origins

I was exposed to art and artists at a very

young age growing up in Kolkata. I practiced
painting until I was 14, thats how I developed
an eye for art. During the late 70s and 80s
Kolkata offered that kind of an artistic life.

How Collecting Began

I started buying when I moved to Delhi, when

I started commissioning work to populate the
Park Hotels with real works of Art. I started
commissioning photographers as well to create art for the hotels. I enjoy building up a collection of popular visual culture, such as my
collection of film posters. Having built this collection over the years, its for me. Ive never
sold art. Since the 80s the type of stuff I have
collected has remained the same. I look for art
that tells a story and has a sense of humour.

Favourite Pieces

I observe the work done with craft, I enjoy

looking at how it moves towards contemporary. I dont look at figurative art, I like the abstract and modern ideas. I look for the beauty
in form of the objet dart. I even collect glass
bottles. Theres a Bharti Kher hanging in my
bedroom. I really found the work of Swaminathan to be quite different in photography,
but Im a fan of everyone from Deen Dayal to
Raghu Rai to Bharat Sikka.
january, 2015 u india today spice 51

collectors
we are doing with it. I like to look at the
world through the eyes of art.

Kiran Nadar, 63, New Delhi

Acquisition Methodolgy

Kiran Nadar is one name in Indian art that

does not require an introduction. The museum in the capital that carries her name is
one of the most important in India for modern and contemporary art.

Photograph by ADIL HASAN

Favourite Pieces

Anurag Khanna, 39, Gujarat

Winner of this years Forbes Young Collector of the Year, Khannas collection is as
extensive as it is unusual. The self-taught
enthusiast takes risks into the experimental and has dedicated a significant portion
of his collection to video art. More impressively, his collection resides in Gandhidham,
Kutch far away from cosmopolitan art hubs.

Drawn to Art

Lots of things get me attracted to art, visual

pleasure and aesthetics, social and political
undertones, sexuality and gender issues
reflected in the work of art just makes me
think about the world around us and what
52 india today spice u january, 2015

khanna and wife

payal stand in front
of Bani Abidis
Karachi Seres 1

Well all are my babies so how do I tell you

which one I love more than the other? Of
course, there are days when some works
give me more pleasure than the others. How
I connect with things depends on what I am
going through, the emotions, pain, difficulties, happiness, joy all get me in a certain
mood which makes me relate more to some
works than others at any point in time. This
is why I keep rotating the collection whenever I can between home, office and storage.
It happens naturally and organically. Works
come home on the walls, go to storage and
then come back again in another room after
a few years. Its strange but it works like that.

Collecting Origins

I started 13 years ago and, frankly, it was

really about decorating my home initially,
but after a few years as one starts reading
and looking and understanding more about
art, for me the whole game of collecting
changed. There is a purpose now and a
driving force that gives me the energy and
excitement to do this and I just hope this
passion continues to stay with me forever.

Wish List

I would like to add a beautiful film by Sharon Lockhart and Luke Fowler. Paintings
of Heimo Zobernig, Michael Krebber and
Rosemarie Trockel. I collect vertically so
would like to follow up Shahryar Nashat.

reading about the artists, but mostly from

seeing work. You get an instinct from seeing the collections, continuously observing
the work of an artist allows your eye to get
trained to make a distinction between good
work and not so.

How Art Began

We were building our home in Friends

Colony and I was looking for art for the
house. So, I went to Rameshwar Brootas
studio and saw Runners and thought it was
really dramatic. I thought it would be quite
fantastic and told him I was going to buy it.
Even the artist asked me, Are you sure? as
it is quite graphic. So, I showed my husband
the image and he was horrified. Our daughter was 7 or 8 years old and my mother-inlaw lived with us, and he said, How can I
have a painting like this in our home? I
told him that I had committed to the artist
so we owed him the courtesy of seeing him
and telling him we had changed our mind.
When we got into the studio Shiv took one
look at the painting and said, Youre right,
we have to have it.

kiran nadar sits in

front of her first
purchase, rameshwar
bootras runners,
at the kiran nadar
museum of art

Value of Indian Art

I was at the Christies auction where the
sales went to almost US$ 1 billion. Single
auction, single evening. A painting by
Andy Warhol sold for almost US$ 81 million. When you look at those prices you
really wonder why Indian art is so much
on the back foot.

The Collector Emerges

When I decided to buy serious art I decided

I was going to meet the artists and buy directly from them. I had very little concepts
of galleries and all that. So the first 3 major
works I acquired directly from the artist.
There was this, there was a Manjeet Bawa
which I commissioned and an MF Husain
work. I never looked on art as an investement. I started enjoying collecting, but my
house was completely done up. I continued
to collect and put it in my husbands office,
and a few other places, and subsequently in
storage. And it struck me that it didnt make
much sense putting art into stage I should
find something more meaningful to do with
it. Somewhere along the line I decided I
would set up a museum. We needed one in
India, the state doing things isnt enough.

The Collector Today

I now look at the collection in a more holistic

way. As in, what are the gaps in the collection that I need to fill to make it more complete. What periods of particular artists have
to be supplemented? Or a particular work
coming up at auction? Most of my knowledge is self-taught. A fair amount came from

Photograph by rajwant rawat/www.indiatodayimages.com

A good collection has to be half you and

half the artists and each of us has to develop
our own method of doing the same. Investment is the last thing that comes to my mind,
collecting is basically a journey which one
should try and walk all their lives if possible
but its very difficult because of the time,
money, patience and understanding that collecting demands. So after a few years most
people get off this difficult path, those that
walk all along can create history. I collect a
lot of things, drawings, photography, paintings, videos, sculpture and there is never a
specific medium. We have a video lounge in
office where we display video works regularly where I do my own shows. Currently, we
have a three person show with Walid Raad,
Bani Abidi and Naeem Mohaiemen

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