Indian painters Vs others

No doubt Indian paintings are gaining in popularity but only among Indians and the buyers are mostly corporate houses. They do have money to buy these rare pieces at the choicest prices. Only among niche foreign buyers at auctions they are known.

CJ: kalos

Tue, Aug 11, 2009 14:03:01 IST

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Art and Culture :

WORLD’S TOP 10 paintings have painters from all over the world but Indian painters and paintings are nowhere in the list. When we have world class painters, who have been painting since as far back as 1848, one wonders why they are not in the list and their paintings commanding top dollars.

No doubt Indian paintings are gaining in popularity but only among Indians and the buyers are mostly corporate houses. They do have money to buy these rare pieces at the choicest prices. Only among niche foreign buyers at auctions they are known. Wish our painters were accorded the same glory and arrive on the world scene commanding top prices.

The world’s current list has well known painters, who of course deserve this and more:

? Jackson Pollock – No.5, 1948 ($ 140 million, unconfirmed)
1.Gustav Klimt – Portrait Of Adele Bloch-Bauer ($ 135 million)
2.Pablo Picasso – Garcon A La Pipe ($ 104.1 million)
3.Pablo Picasso – Dora Maar With Cat ($ 95.2 million)
4.Vincent Van Gogh – Portrait Of Dr. Gachet ($ 82.5 million)
5.Claude Monet – Le Bassin Aux Nympheas ($ 80.45 million)
6.Pierre-Auguste Renoir – Bal Au Moulin De La Galette (78 million)
7.Peter Paul Rubens – Massacre Of The Innocents ($ 76.7 million)
8.Vincent Van Gogh – Portrait de l’Artiste Sans Barbe ($ 71.5 million)
9.Paul Cezanne – Rideau, Cruchon Et Compotier ($ 60.5 million)
10.Pablo Picasso – Femme Aux Bras Croises ($ 55 million)
?? Vincent Van Gogh – Irises ($ 53.9 million, most expensive when sold in 1987)

In the light of the above list, one only wishes to find an Indian name making its way to the top of the list. After all, we have the talent. Wish it gets world recognition and bring home the glory and mega bucks. Indians have done it in almost all the fields. Oscars too are with us so why not our painters and painting be fetching the same glory and price? It’s about time.

We too have our top 10 painters and their paintings:

1.Raja Ravi Varma (1848 – 1946, 58) – Dushyanta Shakuntala
2. Jamini Roy (1887 – 1972, 85) – Bride And Two Companions
3.Sobha Singh (1901 – 1986, 85) – Sohni Mahiwal
4.Amrita Sher-Gil (1913 – 1941, 28) – Three Girls
5.M F Hussain (1915, 94) – Single Canvasses ($ 2 million, highest paid painter)
6.Syed Haider Raza (1922, 87) – Bindu ($ 1.4 million)
7.Francis Newton Souza (1924 – 2002, 78) – Birth ($ 2.5 million)
8.Tyeb Mehta (1935 – 2009, 83) – Triptych Celebration ($ 0.3 million)
9.Anjali Ela Menon (1940, 69) – Yatra
10.Manjit Bawa (1941 – 2008, 67) – Heer Ranjha

Hope our Indian painters become even more recognised the world over and their paintings fetch on par with other world artists at auctions. As the Indian painting scenario grows brighter, the future looks rosy. Here’s wishing them the very best.

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