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By Anurag Tyagi , CNBC-TV18

 

Indian contemporary art worth Rs 17 crore is set to make and break records in London at the Sotheby's auction.

 

Indian contemporary art, being led by front-runners like Raquib Shaw & Subodh Gupta, is yet again going under the hammer. But what makes this Sotheby's auction special is that as against a stand-alone sale of Indian art, this one is an International sale of world contemporary art. Experts say, the inclusion of Indian Art in such a sale is being fuelled by a real demand from collectors all over the world

 

Maithili Parekh , Deputy Director, Sotheby's said, "I think the demand is very strong from non-Indian collectors, so it's European collectors, Asian collectors and when i say Asian- it's Chinese, Korean, Taiwanese private collections. We see museums across the world buy as well, so I think it goes beyond the Indian diaspora, where we're now truly seeing it arrive on the International stage.

 

The last that Sotheby's auctioned a work by artist Raquib Shaw, it got sold for over Rs 22 crore and that still remains the world record for a painting by an Indian Artist. Other recent auctions have seen works by Subodh Gupta also go out for record prices. That, coupled with the inclusion of Contemporary Indian Art in auctions of world art sales, is a clear signifier that Indian art has finally arrived on the global map. Now it remains to be seen if a potential economic slowdown can play party pooper!

 

So far, the Indian art market has shown resistance to succumb under Inflationary pressure. But what's the reason behind it's consistent growth and what does the long term picture look like?

 

Parekh says, "If the US does go into recession and if we do find the Indian market slowing, I think it's the mediocre artists and the mediocre art that will fall off the map."