How to appreciate good art

Rouble Nagi

The question that I am asked regularly is how you can tell good art from the bad ones. Firstly art appreciation is the knowledge and understanding of the universal and timeless qualities that identify all great art. The more you appreciate and understand the art of different eras, movements, styles and techniques, the better you can develop, evaluate and improve your own sense to selecting a masterpiece.

I often tell people you don’t need to be an artist to appreciate art, just like you don’t need to be a cook to appreciate an omelette. Never make the mistake of valuing art just because someone says it’s valuable, or because the artist is only worthwhile if they are rich or dead. Everyone who is interested in collecting art must learn a little about art history as well. For instance when we say modern art is always misinterpreted. Believe it or not, the genre of painting called modern art (modernism) existed from the late 19th century to the middle of the 20th century. Often people interpret modern art to be the recent compositions of an artist. Alternatively, it is also common to hear people referring to any kind of abstract art as ‘modern art’. So, the next time somebody is talking about modern art, be aware that the painting is quite old. Contemporary art is a better nomenclature to describe the art that been created in recent times. Some of the contemporary Indian artists are Anjolie Ela Menon, MF Hussain, SH Raza, Bharti Kher , Bikash Bhattacharya, Francis Newton Souza just to name a few.

Money and art is a funny story, not a sad one. The most famous being when Hollywood actor HughGrant bought an Andy Wharhol for £2 million and sold it for £13 million making a profit of £11 million and later confessed to the media he was drunk while he did it. The profit one can make in investing in art can sometimes be more than ten times your investment. But not all of us have £2 million to invest, so always do some research on the kind of art that catches your eye and artists who have been creating and working in the medium that you fancy. For beginners I always suggest in doing some independent research and also reading about art history. Art has a huge market, artist who are no more like M.F Hussain will always have demand since the stock is limited owning such art is not only a good investment but also you own a piece of history and a status symbol worth exhibiting.