Prints can make a good investment too

(Nalini S Malaviya)

Prices of original artworks - paintings, sculptures, digital art or installations - have surpassed expectations. Art is quite unaffordable for many people. Therefore, more people are turning to limited edition prints to satisfy their passion for art. Prints happen to be a good investment but one must be thoroughly versed with the different kinds of prints that are available in the market to be able to make a sound investment. Here is an explanation of some of the commonly-used terms in association with prints:

Limited edition print

This implies a certain number of pieces, an identical series that is created by the artist himself. In fact, the artist determines the number of prints in the series and these are usually signed and numbered by the artist. In addition, the plate or stencil used to produce the prints is destroyed to ensure that the prints cannot be replicated again.

Remember, these prints are not 'posters' or reproductions of paintings that are available freely and have no investment value. An artist print is usually manually produced and since it is limited in number it has an investment value, plus these are priced significantly lower than paintings, which makes it an attractive investment option. In contrast, posters are mass-produced, and even though these are an inexpensive option they serve only a decorative purpose. Lithograph, serigraph, giclee, etching, intaglio are some of the options available as limited edition prints.

Image courtesy www.affordindianart.com

Lithograph

This literally translates into 'stone drawing'. A lithograph involves a process of printing from a small stone or metal plate, which follows the principle that oil and water do not mix. These manually produced prints are usually 10-20 in number, whereas offset lithographs that are produced industrially may have 500 or so prints.

Serigraph

This is produced when ink or paint is forced through a fine screen onto a surface, usually paper or canvas. A different screen is used for each colour, and the result is therefore rich in colour and may have some texture as well. A serigraph is generally more expensive than a lithograph and also has better quality in terms of colour density and resolution.

(Published in Financial Times)

Reviews - Chinmoy Pramanick and Kanika Mukerjee & Ashish Hazra

Chinmoy Pramanick, a Baroda based artist recently exhibited his installations in B'lore, which I reviewed. Here's the link...http://www.mattersofart.com/August07/exhireview/chinmoy.html

Also, another B'lore showfeaturing Kanika Mukerjee & Ashish Hazra.

http://www.mattersofart.com/August07/exhireview/nalini.html

A tribute - artist V Balu

Dr V Balu was a noted artist and a peace activist who was killed in a road accident yesterday evening, in Bangalore. Almost 80, he was full of life and bursting with ideas, it is hard to imagine he is no more.

Although, he began his artistic career as a cartoonist he found his calling in paper collages. Vivid collages made out of scrap paper transformed magically into works of art. These were often abstracts but sometimes recognizable forms also crept into his imagery. In any case his workmanship was always flawless. All his collages had an underlying message - peace. ‘Rhythms of Peace’, a brilliant collage with girls dancing amidst a swirl of ribbons is a fascinating piece of work. His art always brought a sense of calm and tranquility to the viewer.


He was not a conventional artist in the true sense but he found huge acceptance and encouragement everywhere. The Dalai Lama and the Archbishop Desmond Tutu also had words of praise and appreciation for him. Strangely enough, some people from the art fraternity did not consider him mainstream, but I don’t know if that bothered him at all. An endearing quality about him was that his visiting card invariably carried an image of one his collages and a calendar at the back! Passionate about peace, he was man on a mission. He wrote books and traveled extensively to propagate this message.

I met him last at a book launch and promised to visit his studio soon. Unfortunately, that will not happen now.

Gaining ground with investors - Sculptures

(By Nalini S Malaviya)

There is an increased awareness about Indian contemporary art and with the maturing of the market, art collectors and investors have become more discerning. As a result there is a growing interest in forms of art other than paintings. Sculptures are a centuries old art form, which were created in various mediums such as wood, stone, clay, and bronze. Ancient sculptures are representative of that era and form an important link in understanding the living conditions, values and other concepts of that period. For instance, Greek sculptures focused on the human form and the freestanding statues were detailed and life-like. Gods and goddesses were also given form through sculptures. All of Michelangelo’s statues depicted muscular bodies that symbolized power and strength. His ‘David’ is a fine example in marble from this period and is perhaps the most famous statue of all times. Art collector, Porus Vazifdar laments, "Sculpture has for long been the second cousin of other art media (read painting). This part of the art market is still unspoiled - fewer fakes, less hyped prices, higher entry barrier. It would be heartening to see galleries and dealers promote more works of established sculptors than of new and untested painters.”

In the contemporary art scene, more and more artists are turning to sculptures. Sculptures offer ease in experimentation and multiple choices in mediums. Art Consultant Umesh UV explains, “Sculptures are picked up selectively by real collectors and not by everyone like paintings.” The only problem with sculptures is the amount of space they take up. Umesh says, “Place is a big criteria! Where do I keep just one head of Ravinder Reddy? Also, often price bands are low when there are 9 editions. Some consider this as a 'factory made' concept and do not like it.”

Prices of sculptures are considered to be low compared to paintings. Vazifdar believes, “Like in painting, there is a revolution waiting to happen.” Sculptures are coming into their own is obvious from the fact that in the upcoming Sotheby’s auction, a Subodh Gupta mixed media life size sculpture has been priced between 200,000 – 250,000 USD, a G Reghu bronze sculpture between 8,000 – 12,000 USD and a Sudarshan Shetty mechanical sculpture with dentures is priced between 18,000 – 22,000 USD.

(Published in Financial Times)

Indian Contemporary Art – Trends

(By Nalini S Malaviya)

Till a few years ago most people bought paintings to either decorate their homes or as part of their investment portfolio. Interest in other forms of artworks such as sculptures, digital art, and installations was limited and the number of buyers even more limited. Now, the trend seems to be slowly changing. There are many more people who are aware of the various forms of visual art and they do not hesitate to invest in sculptures, graphic art, and even conceptual art to some extent.

Traditional art such as paintings has its own set of loyal collectors, who insist the advantages with buying one are numerous. A painting can be put up easily on the walls, and although size is important, it is not crucial, and even larger works can be accommodated relatively easily. With newer forms of art, space requirement is one factor, which deters buyers. Often, one needs a larger space to display sculptures or installations. The latter in fact can take up an inordinate amount of space and may also require special considerations in terms of lighting, sound etc. With new media art, preserving it is one issue which unless addressed will not find buyers. But, then most new media artists are not looking at creating permanent art.

Sculptures, installations and digital prints are increasing in popularity both amongst artists and collectors. The advantage with sculptures, and for that matter, even some installations is that due to their three-dimensional nature the impact on the surrounding space is heightened. Again, different mediums than can be used in a sculpture for instance glass, stone, steel, copper, bronze and so on singly or in combination create an enhanced effect that alter the ambience dramatically.

The new age art buyer and collector insists that what moves him to own an artwork is irrespective of the medium. As long as he can relate to it at an emotional or intellectual way that is sufficient motivation to own the work.

(Published in Financial Times)