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Amit Mitra

Mumbai, Sept. 8 When art has a brush with the Internet, it could mean big bucks for the artists.

In its latest round of online art auction last week, Mumbai-based Saffronart, which pioneered the concept in India, sold over 100 pieces of contemporary art for Rs 29 crore ($7.2 million). More than 500 bidders from 30 countries sat before their computers for two days, as canvases produced by some of the big names in Indian contemporary art were auctioned.

The top four lots of the auction were Mr Subodh Gupta’s Idol Thief, which was sold for Rs 4.28 crore, followed by the same artist’s Saat Samundra Par (Rs 3.4 crore), Mr T.V. Santhosh’s When Your Target Cries for Mercy (Rs 2.8 crore) and Mr Anju Dodiya’s The Site (Rs 1.06 crore). But this was not the biggest collection for Saffronart, which introduced online art auction in India in 2000. “In December 2006, we auctioned 140 pieces for a total of Rs 50 crore during a two-day online auction,” says Mr Dinesh Vazirani, the Director of the company.

Indeed, online art auction has added a splash of colour to the domestic auction market, with some five or six companies, led by Saffronart, engaged in this business.

“When we started the venture in 2000, the online art auction market in India was only $150,000. But today, the market has grown to about $70 million, with Saffronart’s share being about $45 million,” Mr Vazirani told Business Line.

Typically, online art auction is preceded by three weeks of preparatory process. First, the catalogue listing the art pieces that would be auctioned is distributed to registered and unregistered bidders — this time around Saffronart distributed it to some 3,000 people across the globe.

If an unregistered bidder comes up, the auctioneer has an elaborate verification process — the unregistered bidder will also need to have a banker’s reference.

Generally, the auction lasts for two days, with each piece carrying a starting price and bids are increased by 10 per cent. Before the auction, the art pieces are available for viewing at Saffronart’s New York and Mumbai galleries.

“Once the highest bid is finalised, the bidder wire transfers the money to us and we pack and ship the piece to the bidder’s destination within a week,” Mr Vazirani says. He points out that online auction makes it possible for bidders across the world to participate, with higher levels of transparency and information about the art pieces. The business model of Saffronart, which charges about 15-20 per cent transaction commission, has prompted Harvard Business School to write and teach a case study on the company.

Now, Saffronart plans to broaden its business canvas by organising the first online auction of jewellery and accessories on October 7. It is mainly intended to showcase jewellery designs more than the brands — included in the catalogue would be a rare, fancy yellow 42-carat diamond. After art and jewellery, what will be next on Saffronart’s catalogue? “Right now our hands are full, but at a later stage we may look at rare books or antique furniture,” says Mr Vazirani.

More Stories on : Arts & Crafts | Online Marketing | Maharashtra

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