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Brinda Suri
Interested in buying a brandHusain, Menon, Raza, Arakal, Caur or picking up a watercolour of a brand-new artist? Their works are just a click away and you can strike a deal sitting at home. All you need to do: log on to a cyber art gallery.
Leading art galleries of the country have e-addresses that are being visited by connoisseurs as well as the random art lover. While majority visitors enjoy a virtual walk through the art zones, many are increasingly clicking the e-shop button and purchasing online.
It's a profitable venture for galleries as its least intrusive, no major overhead charges, a huge time-saver and has wide reach. Also, without having to invest in each piece of art, you can collect images from artists for display and sale, says Kolkata-based Myna Kakkar, proprietor, verandahart.com.
Though galleries seek patronage from exclusive elite collectors, who can spend any amount on art, they are also aggressively encouraging the large mid-income group in India and abroad by offering affordable works online. Informs Sadhana Jaipuria, managing director, Mahua Art Gallery, Bangalore, Mahuagallery.com has helped market the gallery to the Indian and international audience. The website has interactive services such as artist watch, wish list and art source, to encourage first-time buyers. Many like Mumbai's saffronart.com are popular for their online auctions.
What appeals to buyers visiting a web gallery is the opportunity to browse through works at their convenience. And it's aesthetically-designed e-galleries, that give detailed image description along with sale price, which makes a customer revisit and strike a deal.
While there is definitely a charm in visiting a gallery and viewing artists' works up on the wall, e-galleries are trying to create that ambience. Some sites, like those of Saffronart and Delhi Art Gallery, are visually so stunning, they give you the real feel while letting the eyes feast on original works, say Manisha Lath-Gupta, a Mumbai-based art collector. I have bought a few contemporary works of leading painters through cyber galleries. The transactions have been smooth and authenticity is guaranteed, she adds.
Though selling virtually has taken off in a big way, first-time buyers are cautious to spend, particularly on emerging artists, whose work they are not familiar with. But many galleries give them flexibility of returning the work. What appeals to buyers is when prices are declared on the site. Cu stomers, however, are still shy when using their credit cards for e-commerce transactions, adds Sadhana.
To put up a show in a gallery, getting sponsorship is next to impossible for emerging artists. While established names have always managed to sell, it's new artists who are benefiting from cyber galleries . My endeavour is to promote new artists and give them a wider platform to display their art along with senior artists' work. This is the first step to get prospective buyers interested, says Myna Kakkar, of Kolkata's verandahart.com . The USP of my site is that along with works of known painters like Parotish Sen, K Laxma Goud and sculptor Bimal Kundu among others, it also has on offer paintings under Rs 2,000, making art affordable to gift as well as giving young artists a market, she adds.
In online purchase, the area that raises doubts is authenticity. In an effort to make that factor foolproof, gallerists take digital images of the work in question and get the artist's signature on the reverse. In some cases a provenance, certifying it is an original work is also taken from the artist. This happens at the stage when they get the work on consignment or when buying it from the artist.
So what are you waiting for? Satiate your palette palate. Just log on.
LOG ON
Some popular e-galleries
saffromart.com (Mumbai)
mahuagallery.com (Bangalore)
delhiartgallery.com (Delhi)
domusartgallery.com (Delhi)
artgallery88 (Kolkata)
indianart.com (Pune)
IT'S A DEAL
What a buyer looks at
Clarity of art image
Work labelled with details: artist's name, painting title, medium, size Price
Artist's bio-sketch
Authentication guarantee
Delivery process
COLLECTORS' SPACE
Launched in June, indianartcollectors.com is one of the first community portals in the country, for both established and new collectors. The response has been good and already 30 odd collectors have signed up, 135 works are posted on the site and 49 artists are represented.
Started by a group of collectors, the site was conceived as a portal where like-minded art collectors could meet, share information, admire each other's collections and even sell directly without having to pay hefty gallery commission.
The best works of Indian contemporary artists are lying with collectors and galleries. The portal allow collectors to contact each other, show off their collection and buy or sell the works in the secondary market, directly, offers a group member. One of the main reasons why people still do not invest in art today is because of the high cost of exit - galleries charge upwards of 15 per cent commission for selling works, and sometimes that is all the value appreciation your artwork has got anyways. On indianartcollectors, collections can be posted anonymously, and collectors can contact each other discretely. Posting and transacting on the site are free. So there is no cost involved, as opposed to gallery commissions on resales, he adds.
It is a new system of buying selling art in the secondary market. It makes two collectors meet and transact without intermediaries. It definitely builds liquidity in the secondary art market (resale), which is much-needed, says a collector working with an MNC, whose collection is on display on the site.
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Indian Art Paintings
