Ashish Balram Nagpal - Mixing Business with Passion

The Man with a Lollipop - By Chintan Upadhyay

Contemporary Art could be described as a relationship shared between an artist and his/her surroundings. It is nothing but pure expression of true feelings, with respect to one’s culture, philosophy, complexities of relationships, patriotism, poverty, time, etc. It wouldn’t be wrong if I said that our country is mine-field when it comes to Contemporary Art and Artistes, I mean look at our vast history, blend of various communities and religions, mixing of thousands of different mind-sets; all of these factors contributing to the uniqueness of each expression.

But sadly inspite of abundance talent, Indian Contemporary Art never received it’s truly deserved appreciation locally and globally. Locally it was perceived more of a rich man’s hobby and it lacked adequate exposure needed to be recognized on the world stage.

However today thanks to special attention and coverage given by the media, contributions made by various individuals other than artists - Contemporary Art is now within the reach of a common man. People have discovered and opened their minds to artists other than M. F. Hussain. More over today Contemporary Art is also being looked up as a sound investment choice.

But being of inquisitive nature, I wanted to know more about the reasons that lead to media’s interest in Contemporary Art, acceptance of Indian Artists globally, risks and benefits Contemporary Art has to offer - business wise, Up-coming Indian artists, etc. So in order to quench my thirst for information, I got in touch with THE MAN of the Indian Art Scene; Ashish Balram Nagpal (Art Dealer). Anyone and everyone from the Art Industry know Ashish and are well-aware of his contributions. He is one of the best Art dealers in the country and is chiefly responsible for promoting young talent from across the country.

I met him at his gallery in Juhu and this is how things went about…..

Please tell us something about your educational and family background.

I am a Commerce graduate from Lala Lajpat Rai College. Then I joined my dad in the stainless steel business. We use manufacture stainless steel utensils under the brand name of ‘Mukti’. At that time we use to use only 22g and 18g of stainless steel which was Japanese and not Indian. But the moment they started making stainless steel in India, we opted out of the business because the quality in the market went completely hay-wire.

Basically I come from a typical Sindhi Business family background.

What lead you to the field of Art dealership?

I moved into Art dealing around 1990 but I seriously started collecting Art from 1986 onwards. The first lot of art I collected was from Times of India auction which was called ‘Timeless Art’ and it so happened as I bought the collection the very night itself, I was approached by a foreigner who was interested in buying the collection off me. The thing was that he didn’t want to come out openly as the person who had bid for the collection. The very next night I shipped out the collection to buyer’s country and I made money on this collection. It was completely ridiculous, I mean I had just bought and sold on the very same day.

After that I kept on collecting Art and visiting loads of Art Exhibitions. It had become an addiction for me and that is when I realized that I was spending more time in galleries than my own office. So I moved out and started my own gallery. My first exhibition was with the great master Mr. Prabhakar Barwe and then moved on having shows with Jehangir Sabawala, Gieve Patel and various other senior artists.

Around 4-5 years in the profession I realized that there were not many Art dealers who were interested in promoting younger/new comer artists and which I thought was a complete drawback for our Indian Art Scenario and so I changed my Dealership profile then and started doing shows with the younger artists.

The first artist I promoted from newer lot was Baiju Parthan, who today is known as an institution by itself. By the grace of god, I haven’t gone wrong and all my artists have done well. Usually the artists have an association with my gallery for about 3 years and some of them even lasted for 15 years or so. After that they move on but we still remain good friends.

Ashish Balram Nagpal

How supportive have your family and friends been of your choice of profession?

No my family was not at all supportive of my decision and I guess for the right reasons. At that time the Art business did not have any promises of profit and for such reasons my family objected. But I did not let it affect my interest and passion for Art and therefore moved out of the house and started working towards setting up my own gallery.

Tell us about ‘Courtyard’. How did this come about?

Courtyard concept was presented by a girl named Kadambari, who is a part of Narendra Ahmed designer group. Entry in Courtyard was via invitations only. They sent out invitations to various people and I realized that in the Art circuit I was the only one who had got it, so I went ahead and asked a lot of people about it, plus I got a real good feel when I entered that place and so I decided to join hands with them.

I have a rental arrangement with them. They showcase some of my artist’s works at the Courtyard and I pay them monthly rent accordingly.

According to you, what led to the shift of Art collection as a rich man’s hobby to now being accepted by the middle-class section as well?

Ahhh!! I guess it has a lot to do with the media. I would give 80% credit to the media and 20% to the Art galleries. The galleries have put in a lot of hard word into bringing this understanding to the common man that Art does not have a halo around it and the Art galleries are not a tabooed places; any and everybody is welcomed. And you could say that the media helped pass on this message to the general public. Over the past couple of years, they have published loads of Art reviews, Artist profiles, Understanding of Art based write-ups, Gallery write-ups, etc. and that’s how over a period of time people galleries started having more walk-ins, interests among the general public grew and so did the Art Business.

But what generated an interest among the media circuit to promote Contemporary Art?

See it’s like if you ask me which corporate has a large collection of Art it’s definitely got to do with the fact that someone in that company has a keen interest in Contemporary Art and that’s why they own so many. Similarly some editors of well-established newspapers, channels had a liking for Art and were very Pro-active in the art scene. They realized it’s potential and therefore chose to promote it.

Do you feel that the exposure given to the Art industry by the Page 3 personalities, has been a major influence in it’s acceptance among the masses?

Definitely! I am not at all against Page 3. It has its own relevance in the commercial set-up. Or I would put it that its glamour portion is what has been helpful. I don’t think it actually helps in selling of a painting but yes it has helped in promoting Art in general - without a doubt.

What types of Art sell best in the Indian Market?

An art that has a statement will sell anywhere in the world. An artist has to have a statement; he/she cannot just paint an abstract and give it to you. Artist needs to pass on a message thru his work only then it becomes a worthwhile piece of work otherwise its just plain lemon.

The Blade - By Julius Macwan

Name some of the famous artists in the Indian scenario at present?

Among the senior ones there are Tayab Mehta, M. F. Hussain, Jahangir Sabawalla, Rameshwar Bruta and many more. From deceased ones there are Raja Ravi Verma and Amrita Shergil. From the upcoming lot we have Chintan Upadhyay, Julius Macwan, Ganga Kadadia, Rajat Dhar, Vishal Tandon, Manash Kamal Bishwas, Vijay Shellar and Vikram Arora….just to name a few.

What is the demand for Indian Art/Artiste on the global front? Do you think anything is lacking from its global acceptance?

As of today there loads of opportunities and windows opened for them. There are Art shows, workshops, seminars, auction houses. The time has come where people have accepted difficult art. Previously any painting which had even a little bit gaudy color or element init would not be touched but now people have learned to look beyond that. Another artist worth mentioning is Hema Upadhyay, who recently tripled her pricing by participating at the Christies Auction in Hong Kong.

I would that an art has a statement, an artist when has a reason to paint and that reason is very obvious in his/her painting then it will surely be appreciated. There are no such things as abstract painting, landscape painting or pretty pictures.

But what do u think was lacking previously?

Nothing was lacking talent wise, only exposure was lacking. Exposure on the global front was missing. In 1990s we would try to get an appointment with an international gallery it would take us nearly 3 years or so. And today they are the ones flying down to India and making appointments with us, so you can imagine how things have changed drastically.

What makes investing in Indian Art a fruitful option?

It’s very simple, if we talk about purely about money and investment?its like why people invest in stock market and not in NASDAQ. You have more control of what’s in your reach. The artists here are very approachable to the Indian investor; you can go across to his studio, call him up anytime, have dinner with him and chat with him. You are aware of his work, his next move, etc. You can relate to them, since you come from similar background, culture, etc and therefore there is a comfort level between you and their painting.

Another point is that the pricing of a good painting will never go down, even in a worst scenario. It may remain stagnant but will never fall, unless you have bought a lemon or not investigated your dealer properly.

One can easily expect atleast 30% increase in value of a painting every year. So the benefits can be buckets loaded with money.

Ashish with upcoming talent Vikram Arora’s painting

What is the minimum investment required?

A good painting from a reputed artist and his dealer would start from Rs. 50,000 onwards.

How can one avoid being tricked from buying fabricated paintings?

Well there are basic precautions that one should take, especially if he/she is a first time buyer.

1. Stay away from suitcase dealers. They are basically the ones who carry paintings in their car trunks and go from door to door or friend to friend, selling fake paintings and high dreams.

2. Stay away from people who have entered the market since the economy has risen. Because since then every Tom, Dick and Harry wants to make big bucks with shoddy tactics. They have opened up galleries or sell paintings from their living rooms. Since they have no idea about the market and don’t know their way around, they land up dealing with stolen or fake works.

3. This is in inverted commas, “Any gallery that is less than 10 years old should be avoided”. Basically any brick and motor gallery which has not been around for long should not be dealt with seriously, especially if you are a first-timer.

4. Investigate your Art dealer to the finest detail. Go through their past associations, meet them couple of times. Most importantly, don’t be afraid to ask questions. See your comfort level with them, how transparent their intentions are and then proceed with any sort of transaction.

Ashish standing besides another one of Chintan’s brillant work.

How does the un-organized sector of art seller’s work in the Indian market and what measures have been taken to curb them?

See the un-organized sector here mainly comprises of these suitcase dealers. Since there is no-authority or organization watching over Contemporary Art industry in India or worldwide, one has to be extremely careful when it comes to people they are dealing with.

This industry does not work like your other conventional business. It is purely Art dealer driven, without whom the whole concept would go down the drain. If you ask me how many genuine dealers you have in India today, I would say barely a handful?.rest are just in to make quick money and don’t give a damn about their clients and artists.

What points to look in, when purchasing expensive paintings and art works?

Here the most important thing that counts is again your relationship with your Art dealer. Since it you who is investing your hard earned money, you have to be 100% sure of your dealer. Don’t just go by his/her word, do your own research. See if he actually running a gallery or a dukaan. Artists he has been involved with, his/her reputation in the Art community. How much contribution they given to the industry, try to get in touch with their previous clients. As I said earlier too, don’t hesitate to ask questions.

Once you are completely confident about the person, then you are mostly likely not to go wrong.

It is my opinion that there are very few individuals in this world who really enjoy and are extremely passionate about their profession; Ashish surely belongs to this category. His reputation and contribution to the Contemporary Art industry cannot be denied, believe me there people who actually swear by his sincerity and eye for recognizing good piece of work. But what I really liked about him was his down-to-earth attitude; something that many successful personalities lack in today’s day-n-age.

Be it for your sudden fascination or business interest in Contemporary Art, meeting Ashish should definitely be your first move.

Over and out….. (Till next time)

• Culture, India, Interview, Mumbai, New Age Thinking
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