Emerging Artists get a Boost from Auction Houses
Where earlier artists had to wait for success and critical acclaim before their work could come under the auctioneer’s hammer, today auction houses are putting themselves forward to promote emerging talent from their premises.
Christie’s Hong Kong Asian art sale gives a glimpse of how times have changed. Where in the past Christie’s never placed any importance in promoting young artists, today they are viewed as future potential.
Sotheby’s specialist, Robin Dean, in 2000, claimed: ‘I don’t think an auction is a place where an artist’s career should be launched. That is something that is the sole prerogative of the commercial gallery system which should nurture the evolution and motivate further progress.’ A diametrically opposing attitude to the fervour with which both auction houses comb the country in pursuit of new and emerging talent.
Another tenet of auction houses is also seen to be crumbling, the impression that only seasoned and established talent can attract record-breaking prices. The likes of Atul Dodiya, Anju Dodiya, Subodh Gupta, Jitish Kallat and Hema Upadhyay are some of the new talent that achieved record prices in the salesroom.
Online art galleries have given a fillip to emerging talent. Where earlier real world galleries offered only limited opportunities to new artists as space was at a premium, the arrival of art on the Internet has widened the canvas both in terms of variety and reach.
The art marketplace too is witnessing a transformation. The profile of the art buyer is constantly changing, he is getting younger, and with art gaining acceptance as a viable investment medium middle-income group investors are visiting auction houses and art galleries.
Where earlier artists had to wait for success and critical acclaim before their work could come under the auctioneer’s hammer, today auction houses are putting themselves forward to promote emerging talent from their premises.
Christie’s Hong Kong Asian art sale gives a glimpse of how times have changed. Where in the past Christie’s never placed any importance in promoting young artists, today they are viewed as future potential.
Sotheby’s specialist, Robin Dean, in 2000, claimed: ‘I don’t think an auction is a place where an artist’s career should be launched. That is something that is the sole prerogative of the commercial gallery system which should nurture the evolution and motivate further progress.’ A diametrically opposing attitude to the fervour with which both auction houses comb the country in pursuit of new and emerging talent.
Another tenet of auction houses is also seen to be crumbling, the impression that only seasoned and established talent can attract record-breaking prices. The likes of Atul Dodiya, Anju Dodiya, Subodh Gupta, Jitish Kallat and Hema Upadhyay are some of the new talent that achieved record prices in the salesroom.
Online art galleries have given a fillip to emerging talent. Where earlier real world galleries offered only limited opportunities to new artists as space was at a premium, the arrival of art on the Internet has widened the canvas both in terms of variety and reach.
The art marketplace too is witnessing a transformation. The profile of the art buyer is constantly changing, he is getting younger, and with art gaining acceptance as a viable investment medium middle-income group investors are visiting auction houses and art galleries.