Vijay Dutt
The Hindustan Times UK
London, February 7, 2005

The prices for modern Indian art have been rocketing over the last 18 months and " Indian heatwave" is predicted to hit the art market in Britain. Next week 45 works of nine of the most sought after artists including MF Hussein and Francis Newton Souza, are to be shown at the Berkley Square Gallery before being auctioned on March 1.

The Gallery's director also aims to exhibit works of some more Indian artists so as to gain a foothold in the modern Indian art market. In fact, the market for modern Indian art is getting so "hot" that Sotheby's is planning to restart their sales in London this summer from July.

Bonhams have gone to the extent of taking Sotheby's former contemporary Asian Art specialist Mehreen Rizvi Khursheed as a consultant for a specialised sale in April.

One of the main focuses of attention by the auction houses is the group of such post-Independence artist as Souza and Mehta "whose work fused traditional Indian art with western modernism," said Colin Gleadell of Daily Telegraph in his report on Asian art.

He revealed that the average auction price of Hussein's trebled last year after a new record of $153,000 was set in New York. Auctions of modern Indian art in New York last year netted over $2.8 million compared to $700,00 four years ago.

The wealthy, multimillionaire NRIs, with their average net worth of $1.5 billion are said to be driving the market, although art collectors from Japan to Hollywood have been in the past two years paying record prices like $317,500 for a triptych by Tayeb Mehta. Many among the rich NRIs have now turned to art as an alternative investment, according to Sotheby's Robin Dean.

Some of the works mentioned include a 50s Souza painting for $183,000 in an internet auction last November and Hussein's Untitled estimated at $55,000 to $65000.