Ahead of the sale, Christie’s international director of Asian art Dr Amin Jaffer speaks to Guardian 20. “In this fourth annual Indian sale, we are offering royal court paintings as well as classical sculptures. Along with this, works by modern and contemporary artists like Vasudeo Gaitonde, Tyeb Mehta, Manjit Bawa, Bhupen Khakhar, Akbar Padamsee, and Jehangir Sabavala are going under the hammer. A total of 144 lots are available for collectors to buy.”
The demonetisaton move by the government, which has left many sectors stranded at least for the time being, has had no apparent effect on Christie’s sales in India. “As far as our sales go, it is not operated much on a cash basis and our India sales, although they take place in India, really benefit from international participation. So we do not feel that there would be substantial impact on our business,” says Jaffer, referring to the upcoming sale in Mumbai.
About his experience of working with the Indian market, he says: “When I joined Christie’s in 2007, it was a dream to have a sale in India. It was a dream and now we have been able to make it a reality. I would say that art markets and the understanding of art has grown leaps and bounds with many Indian art endeavours like Kochi Biennale, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, India Art Fair among others. I have seen the momentum in India grow in the past five to six years.”
There are various challenges which are met on the way while an auction house is conducting a sale. “I have been working with different institutions and it happens sometimes that you get an obstacle of funding, space, drawing the audience and the like, but what has been really thrilling is to see collectors from India and throughout the world participating and because our online presence is very strong. It has helped us to build strong relationships across the world alongwith the latitude it facilitates” says Jaffer.
When I joined Christie’s in 2007, it was a dream to have a sale in India. It was a dream and now we have been able to make it a reality.
It is wonderful for Jaffer to see a collection being built, participate in it and eventually become very close to the collector and his/her family. “You understand their taste, lifestyle and their motivation of collecting. I really love this aspect of my job.”
Jaffer is someone who has worked with various art centers, taken the curator’s enterprise in his hands and managed the art collection of the institution. So what is the mental stimuli that keeps him going? “In my work at Christie’s for past ten years I have been very lucky to work with people. Sometimes they enter the market for the first time, at other times they are seasoned collectors but people who are really interested in learning about the works of art, who are passionate about them, who live with the things they acquire. It’s a really enjoyable experience to be called on as a support and as an advisor that really keeps me going,” he says.
Jaffer, who has trained as a museum curator from Victoria and Albert Museum, is fascinated by the idea of public art. “I was trained as a museum curator and I worked for many years at a museum and I love the idea of art belonging to the public; art and art knowledge. I really love the idea of sharing a opening of art to the public and that was very much my academic training. Public discourse is important even access to art. When we have preview such as this, it is an opportunity for anyone interested in art to benefit from the scholarship.”
In our conversation, he also touched upon the enriching global presence of the South Asian art market. “South Asian art has been recognized globally as one of the great visual influences across human endeavour. Any museum of international standing will be representing art from this region. It may be ancient sculpture, mughal paintings, art jewellery. Recently Hong Kong University had a major exhibition on Indian jades. Similarly many Japanese Buddhist communities come to in India to study ancient Buddhist art rooted here.”
The sale of any art object is mainly determined by its market. “We are conscious of the market. We often advice people on selling an artwork depending upon its current market statistics. We ask them to sale or hold the art piece for a while depending upon the demand in the market,” he says.
Prior to the upcoming auction, whose lowest estimate is calculated to be around 59 crore, Jaffer shares some key points for buyers. “One needs to be familiar with the work of art. It is ideal of him to come and see the work. It is helpful to understand the terms of business-the premiums, local taxes, shipping taxes, duties, import fees etc. It is advisable to study the work as much as possible as much as possible studying the works of art. For example, if someone local is willing to buy M.F. Hussain’s work, he should visit National Gallery of Modern Art and see his works. He should go online and look at his other works from same period. He can also compare prices from various online portals. A buyer should be prepared to understand value and quality. The pre-auction period is a perfect opportunity to study the artworks and sense their cost,” he says.