The art world has seen several highs and lows. Currently, the trajectory is pointing downwards, thanks to the demonetisation and cash withdrawal limits. Artists and even art fairs such as the India Art Fair have registered low sales and many believe there is nothing much one can do, except wait and let the storm pass.
Just days after demonetisation was announced, before the deadline to deposit old notes in the bank, artists did have good sales. With several artists accepting old notes, people also found a way to dispose off old notes. But now, that option too is out of the way as high-end art now, can’t be bought in cash payments.
Artist Fawad Tamkanat says, “Between artists and gallery owners, the latter will be at a greater loss. Most of the gallery sales happen through 50 per cent cash and 50 per cent cheque but now, if people do want to buy art, they give only cheques.” He adds that now everyone will have to keep a tab on all their financial transactions, which will lead to higher taxes.
Fawad Tamkanat
At the India Art Fair in Delhi, not only have prices of works been slashed, but gallery owners are also selling smaller-sized paintings to enable better sales.
“This time, we have definitely kept the art works affordable,” says Priyasri Parodia, founder of Priyashi Art Gallery, who is showcasing works by eminent artists Jogen Chowdhury and Akbar Padamsee at the fair.
“Keeping in mind demonetisation, I have curated a show wherein artists have created small format works. So, a small format sketch can be bought from '2 lakh onwards,” she explains. Rajendra, the organiser of India Art Fair says, “Art festivals are still being organised because one has to keep brand names alive. Financially, it was tough to organise the India Art Festival in Delhi this year. Like always, artists and galleries have been making payments online in order to participate, so that aspect has not changed.
However, the problem arose when these artists and galleries faced money recovery issues. In art festivals, all the transactions happen in cash. So, organisers had a bad time. We are still incurring huge losses.” Eminent artist Suryaprakash says that the last two months have been worse.
“I haven’t had a single sale since December. It’s not that I sell several paintings every month, but demonetisation is definitely the reason behind this slump. The coming few months will also see a low in terms of sales,” says Suryaprakash, adding, “Art has never been a necessity. People buy it out of interest and when times are a little tight, like they are right now, no one would want to put their money into something that can be bought later too.”
— With inputs from Geetha Jayaraman and Suridhi Sharma
