The Hindu Business Line : Making art lighter on the purse

Mumbai April 27 A shaded green cat looking at two little birds sitting on its back is a favourite with not just its painter Dibyendu Basu, but also with people visiting the gallery where paintings by nine artists from Bengal are being displayed till Sunday.

And amused by this discussion about the use of his animal motifs in Basu's paintings, is artist Subrata Sen, whose delicate lotuses in water has found a Dutch buyer.

Basu and Sen are among the artists whose works are being exhibited at the Bajaj gallery in Mumbai.

They are not new to the canvas, in that their paintings have been displayed before. However, they are little known in the art world, embellished with high-profile personalities.

That has not, though, stopped their paintings, "priced at less than gallery-prices", from finding appreciative buyers. "The buyers have been individuals, we have not yet had a corporate buyer," says Akumal Ramachander, the curator of the exhibition, speaking to Business Line a day after the preview.

Artist's `discovery'

Akumal, as he is referred to in art circles, is credited globally with the discovery of abstract-expressionist painter Harold Shapinsky.

A compelling real-life encounter, where Akumal stumbled upon Shapinsky's work through the painter's son David Shapinsky, and flew to New York to meet the man himself.

He then took Shapinsky's work to different art galleries in the US and then to Europe, where the doors of London's Tate Gallery opened, after some dogged pursuing by Akumal.

With Kolkata's Abstract Frames, Akumal now seeks to provide artists from Bengal a springboard for recognition in a larger arena. More than 100 artists have been screened and Akumal selects a pool of artists with whom he works intensively before it culminates in an exhibition, says Amitabh Bhattacherji, the founder of Abstract Frames, who quit his job at Tata Steel to start this venture.

Affordable art

The idea is to make art affordable, he says, as the paintings on display are priced between Rs 20,000 and Rs 75,000.

Explaining that art is not an esoteric pursuit and should not be mystified, Akumal observes that "an artistic world is part of society and it will mirror the virtues and vices of what is around it."

So are commercial influences painting an unpleasant hue in the art world? "Of course, there is commerce. The very basis of the artist is that he wants to sell his art. But you don't want the market to dominate," he points out.

He indicates that about 60 per cent of the price on the painting goes to the artist and the rest gets divided between gallery rentals, insurance and a 12.5 per cent VAT.

Touching on the competitive pricing of the paintings, the curator points to 27-year-old Pradip Das's rendition of insects as a work of international standard. Das is the baby of the pack and sits crouched over his canvas, dabbing maroon onto his canvas, oblivious of the discussion over his work. Other works that art-lovers can choose from include: Arunava Mondal's soft pastel abstracts, the bold bright mix of colours in Rajib Bhattacherji's work, Swapan Kumar Saha's intricate patterns, Malay Saha's expansive landscapes, Biraj Paul's religious motifs and Dhiren Sasmal's horses and young girls.

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