Passage from India
There is more to Indian art than temple art, says Vaishali Honawar For the West, Indian art is synonymous with temple art. A year ago, on a visit to England, I was struck by just how unknown contemporary Indian art was. While every other person I met had visited India, no one seemed to have even heard of a single contemporary Indian artist.
But for more than a century — from the time when Raja Ravi Varma first used 'modern' art materials such as oil-based paints, canvas and brushes — there has existed a thriving, colourful world of mod- ern art, which has kept abreast with world trends and thrown up a great deal of talent. And in celebration of these 100 years, Sotheby's is holding an auction of the work of 60 artists in London on 8 October. The auction will feature 158 paintings, gleaned from collections around the world.
Until a little over a year ago, however, Indian art had no godfather to help it on to the international scene. A large part of the blame for its anonymity could be traced back home to the famous red-tape which ensures that any painting sold to a buyer outside the country does not reach its des- tination without a six-month delay, during which time the painting could well become damaged. Indeed, so tired did Sotheby's get of this procedure that it closed its office in Delhi a couple of years ago, only a year after it had opened.
In the past year, though, Indian contem- porary art has seen an upturn. Sotheby's held an auction of Indian art from the col- lection of the Americans Chester and Davi- da Herwitz, in New York. Christie's, too, had a couple of Indian art auctions in Lon- don. At last Indian contemporary art seemed to be gaining the respectability and marketability — it so badly needed.
Indeed, over the past year or so, interna- tional exposure at various festivals and events abroad has also helped Indian art to gain recognition. Last year's Avignon Festi- val in France used a logo designed by S.H• Raza, one of India's most senior artists who has made that country his home while still retaining the `Indianness' of his art. This year's Olympic Committee in Atlanta invited an Indian sculptor, Hemi Bawa, to display her work alongside other interna- tional contemporary artists.
Modern Indian art may be a relative newcomer on the international scene, but now perhaps it will start to receive the wider recognition it surely deserves.
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