The Anatomy of the Art Collector

The growing Indian art market has seen an emergence of collectors keen to add to their collections and diversify their investment portfolios

- Jyotsna Sharma

Anita and her partner Rohan just moved into their new villa in Palm Springs. This one is in Gurgaon and not in California. At the housewarming party she was talking about the art she wants to buy for the new house. What amazed me was her knowledge of the art market.

For first-time art investors, Anita a 42-year-old entrepreneur, and Rohan a 35-year-old techie, definitely know which artworks to invest in. New age buyers are as knowledgeable about the market as any seasoned collector. They no longer depend purely on the advice of the art advisor at an auction house or a gallery, their own research is spot on.

The Indian art market has had a good run of late, and it continues. An Indian Art Investor and Grant Thornton report studied the overall market performance at auction in FY23. Their findings suggest it clocked an impressive turnover of Rs 1,145.5 crore ($ 144.3 m) through a sale of 3,833 artworks. Further, the average price of art works sold were Rs 29.9 lakh ($37.7 k).

New Kid in Town

Seasoned collectors make up a large portion of the buyers in today’s art market. Be it a preferred artist, subject, series of works or group of artists, avid collectors are continually seeking their next substantial purchase.

Having said that, the Indian art market has witnessed a recent uptick in new collectors who are keen to delve into art and collectibles. The market has seen an influx of young buyers who are keen to experiment with their first collections.