What makes Indian art a promising investment avenue?
Indian art is hot and getting hotter. India’s international profile is growing, we have a large number of highly paid professionals who are confident about both collecting art and investing in it. Indian art is big right now, notching up record-breaking figures at auctions each season. In 2003, a 6 ft x 4 ft painting by Ramkumar sold at Rs 1268960 (US $32000). In 2005, the same painting resold at Rs 19827500 (US $500000). That is an amazing 1462 per cent up. Every senior Indian artist is today selling at these auctions at over Rs 10 lakhs (US $24590).
How do artists from Bangalore in particular fare in the international art market?
There is a lot of demand the world over for painting by Bangalore based artists. Yusuf Arakkal continues to be the top favourite; there is a lot of buzz for his paintings and the demand will only escalate. A lot of younger artists are getting known as they participate in international exhibitions and interest continues to grow about them.
Faces, Forces, Forms by Nitin Nangre
What must one look out for when starting a collection, and how does one go about portfolio diversification?
Begin with a fixed amount of money to spend on art. The wise way to invest would be split it between the works of a master artist, a stable star, a cutting edge artist and an upcoming artist. With this, your collection is a winner. Like any investment, so too in art, one should never put all the eggs into a single basket. It is best to choose a portfolio from the several available options.