Modern Art- Market Analysis

S H Raza
SH Raza had over US$ 15 million sold in 2010 and was the most liquid artist last year. In 2010 Raza had 3 paintings selling in the top 10 most expensive paintings ever sold in auctions and one of them included Saurashtra which sold for over US$ 3 million. Raza has come back quickly after the fall with a 200% increase in price from 2009 and a 5 year holding giving a return of 120%. Ranked today as number one in Indian art.


M F Husain
MF Husain is one of the top 3 liquid artist this year. If one looks at the graph and considers that one bought a painting in 2005, the price would have gone up over 200% in 2007 which was the high for this artist, then the economic situation changed and 2010 was a low point for Husain. It was a great time to buy as prices have gone up 100% from last year. we are currently trading at 2006 price levels and prices are expected to start going back to higher levels.


Tyeb Mehta

Tyeb Mehta was the only artist who did not see a down turn. Although there was a drop in 2007 due to limited supply Tyeb prices have gone up slowly and is regarded as the most stable investment so far. Having said that he is priced high due to limited supply and can be very liquid at the right price, although if one bought a Tyeb painting in 2005 the upside over the last 6 years has been only 80%


F N Souza
FN Souza is has been the 3 most liquid artist over the last year. Although the artist went up the maximum from all the other artists and in 2007 was giving the highest return of 400% as compared to 2005 price levels, prices came down at the same pace. Last 5 years return has been a little over 130%.


Manjit Bawa
Manjit Bawa comes into the decorative category with prices not moving up. The artist has a very select market and the works in maximum demand are the ones with images of Krishna. Investment return over the last 5 years has been only 40% and not everything of the artist is liquid.


Sakti Burman
Sakti Burman is another decorative artist but his prices have been in the negative. If one bought a painting by this artist in 2005 it would have gone up 250% in one year and would have been the right time to sell. But in 2007 there was a large supply of the artist's in the market with 2 solo exhibitions resulting in an oversupply of paintings. The artist's primary price is much higher than the secondary price and it is better to buy the paintings in auctions as the prices are cheaper. The artist is currently trading in the negative from 2005 prices.


KG Subramanian
The artist has not got a strong demand and is actually one of the weak artists in the market. The high point was 2006 after which the artist kept falling and is still going down. The artist has a very select demand and is not a great investment.


Badri Narayan
Badri in recent times has gained demand in the market, but has a select buyer base. His market hit a high point in 2008 where his water colours were selling at record prices, but he was not one of the top artists in India and the depth of his buyers was not very large the prices came down as fast as they went up. Having said that the artist has made a faster recovery than most others and is considered a stable investment.


Bikash Bhattacharya
Bikash is regarded as the top realistic artist in Modern Indian art. His paintings have a very limited supply but the high price increase was due to a large Calcutta based art fund which was acquiring paintings between 2006 and 2007. Although the paintings were acquired at very high values and will be difficult to sell right now, the fund has a long term view of 10 years but what the fund did manage to do was cut supply of the paintings. Bikash is regarded as a good investment and it is a good time to buy his paintings at the right price.


Manjit Bawa
Manjit has a large collector base and is expected to do well over the next 3 years. His paintings are decorative and have a large buyer base. His market is bouncing back fast and a limited supply will result in prices going back to high points.


J Swaminathan
The market of this artist is not very stable. There are years where paintings come up and do very well and then there are years where his prices come down as well. over the last 3 years Swami's market has seen 3 falls which proves the market needs to become stable before one considers the artist as a good investment.

Source: The Arts Trust