ARHITECTURE
2 1. A rare, life-size wooden and papier-mache sculpture from Tamil Nadu. 2. Glass paintings from Lucknow depict courtesans from the 19th Century. 3. A wood sculpture. 4. An oil-on-canvas depicting the Madonna.
"I HAVE BEGUN TO APPRECIATE ANTIQUITIES FOR THEIR CLASSIC
BEAUTY AND TIMELESS VALUE. EACH WORK IS CRAFTED WITH
SUCH CARE, IMAGINATION AND REVERENCE FOR THE MATERIALS
INVOLVED THAT THEY ARE A TRUE DELIGHT TO INDULGE IN."
NOV — DEC 2012
Anupam Poddar
who finds that vintage allows her to enter a new space of creative expression: “Personally I like to break artifical boundaries between the traditional and modern…A Gajji lehenga belonging to my materal grandmother…a velvet waist coat with a jump suit, a Jamavar on a cold winter evening. I even dress up my home with exquisite paisleys and embroideries…with vintage you can still get a level of quality at a price point that would normally be impossible”.
That’s what has repeatedly attracted collectors and connoisseurs to the lasting presence of relics and antiquities from India. Leading international auction houses like Christie’s and Sotheby’s regularly feature miniature paintings, historical textiles and
hand-crafted objects along with contemporary and modern art, and increasingly their collector base is moving to local enthusiasts from foreign ones. Many Indians tend to pick up pieces from India in other parts of the world; such has been their popularity abroad. Durva Gandhi, Founder-Director of Breathe Arts, an online Indian art portal observes that, “the field of antiquities will definitely emerge as a strong trend in the coming years. One of the reasons is the slowdown in the contemporary art market due to prices reaching astronomical levels. We are ourselves looking for the right opportunities to engage with this segment in a fresh way.” With one of India’s oldest art galleries – Pundole in Mumbai – hosting an auction
of the estate of physicist Homi Bhabha last month in Mumbai, has the momentum swung? “We try to stay away from such speculation ourselves – having been through many such cycles of the market in the field of art – and encourage people to create their own narratives,” quips Tomar. “Sometimes it may be a matter of fifteen years before the right person comes along to pick up a work, sometimes more. One then feels that the work has been waiting, and it has found him”.
Philosophises Kaka, “Whatever the initial interest, it is impossible to not be touched by the charm of something delicately hand-made, so considered in its use of colour.”