The Art Of Living

Mansi Shah puts the world of art buying into perspective

- Mansi Shah

There may be many reasons people go to the Louvre in Paris, but every day, 30,000 of them buy the tickets to stare at the painting of a woman smiling benevolently at them. The Mona Lisa is legendary and the French Heritage Law dictates that this painting cannot be sold. Undeterred by mere practicalities, I did a quick search and the internet says that its value would run into billions of dollars, making it practically unaffordable. Across the world, the Saudi Arabian culture ministry owns Salvator Mundi. In 2017, at a Christie’s auction, this painting demanded a price of $450 million, making it the most expensive art to ever be sold. There’s one thing common to the Mona Lisa and Salvator Mundi – the artist – Leonardo Da Vinci (though this is hotly disputed). If there was ever a case to be made for art and its appreciating value, these numbers could convince even the most conservative investor.

In a world where we are waiting for our mutual funds to rake out the benefits promised to us from glossy brochures, perhaps training our sights on art makes sense. The wealthy set is already doing it. And now, younger India is seeing art as an investment.