SCULPTURES are catching up on the ait markets overseas and in India. Together with paintings, of course, the trend, also at the moment, revolves around sculptures. Alberto Giacometti set a world record price of $104,327,006, at the Sotheby's auction in London on February 3, 2010, initially (before Picasso overtook him again at a Christie's auction in New York on May 4, 2010 with a price of $106.4 million), Subsequently, a Modigliani sculpture went at a record $52.8 million for the artist at Christie's in Paris on June 14, 2010. It was estimated to fetch far below at $6-9 million. On the Indian front Somnath Hore garnered £157,250 for a monumental sculpture. The Khanjani Player, a record achieved by a Hore work, at the Sotheby's London sale in June 2010. Before this, none of the Hore works had ever crossed the Rs 1 -crore mark. Indian sculptures seem to gaining in steam with every passing day. On June 28, Bharti Kher set an all-time record for any Indian Contemporary artist with her celebrated sculpture, The Skin Speaks A Language Not Its Own, at the London Sotheby's sale with a price £993,250, thus crossing1 the $1 -million mark. "Looking at the current trend" and results, sculptures are going to be the new craze in coming years. Some of the young sculptors who are promising and affordable look like good buys. These include artists like Ketan Amin, Mansoor Ali from Baroda, Akhil Chandra Das, Subrata Das, Nantu Behari Das and Tapas Biswas are worth looking at "Vikram Bachhawat, director of Kolkata's Aakriti Art Gallery", told ET. Among the established artists, focus could revolve around Himmat Shah, Satish Gujral, Ravinder Reddy, Subodh Gupta and Prithpal Singh Ladi. Abhijit Lath, director of Akar Prakar Gallery in Kolkata, said: "There isn't a doubt that sculptures are selling. In fact, Meera Mukherjee is much in demand. Both Somnath Hore and Meera Mukherjee have become an important focus both in India and abroad. Meera Mukherjee sold at the Osian's auction for over Rs 40 lakh." According to Lath, Debanjan Roy and Adip Dutta are doing well. "Debanjan's lifesize sculpture, Gandhi Walking with Dog, sold for £15,000-plus at an auction. We are going to stage a show of veteran Shantiniketan-based sculptor Sarbari Roy Chowdhury in Jaipur and Ahmedabad soon and are optimistic about viewers receiving it well. The sculpture market is smaller than that for paintings, but is growing at a faster rate, "said Mr. Lath. Roshni Vadehra of Delhi-based Vadehra Art Gallery said: "Since the Indian art market has grown, so have various elements, which were not popular to start with. At first, most collectors would focus their acquisitions on paintings, mainly oils. However, the market has expanded to sculptures, photography, as well as new media, in recent times. While most modern artists worked primarily in bronze, contemporary artists often make their sculptures in fibre-glass, another medium which has drawn an encouraging response in the market." With Giacometti setting a new high for sculptures in international auctions, and Bharti Kher's sculpture also doing exceeding well, the market is showing its maturity as buyers domestically and internationally now turn to expanding their collections with different forms of art, concluded Ms Vadehra.
Among the established artists, focus could revolve around Himmat Shah, Satish Gujral, Ravinder Reddy, Subodh Gupta and Prithpal Singh Ladi.
"Debanjan's lifesize sculpture, Gandhi Walking with Dog, sold for £15,000-plus at an auction. We are going to stage a show of veteran Shantiniketan-based sculptor Sarbari Roy Chowdhury in Jaipur and Ahmedabad soon and are optimistic about viewers receiving it well. The sculpture market is smaller than that for paintings, but is growing at a faster rate, "said Mr. Lath.
