P Gopinath, among the founders of Cholamandal Artists’ Village, recalls a brilliant young artist named Ramanujam from the 1960s, who was pushed out by his family which considered him a loser. “Artist K C S Paniker gave him a place to stay, from where he produced some exceptional works,” says Gopinath.“There were no galleries to display his art then. He hardly had money to buy canvas and would sell his work for `100 each. He died at the age of 32. Today, his pieces are worth `15 lakh, and are sought after.” His story was one of many that inspired a group of artists to start a commune, which developed into Cholamandal Artists’ Village in 1966.Chennai has come a long way from those days when contemporary and abstract art had zero takers. The city has grown into a recognised, if still underdeveloped, market. Awareness of Chennai artists has risen, but they continue to lag behind in sales and visibility.Sarala Banerjee, director of Sarala’s Art World, the first art gallery in Chennai, remembers the time her parents started it, 60 years ago. “Chennai had the first contemporary art college in the country (Govt College of Fine Arts), so why not a small gallery, my parents thought.” But for the longest time, the Banerjees survived on framing, not art, while Cholamandal artists sustained themselves on making and selling craft items.When Bombay and Delhi had art galleries, Madras was still stuck in the calendar culture, says Gopinath. Calendars with pictures of Gods and Ravi Varma prints were hot sellers. “There was little familiarity with art, which stemmed from a lack of exposure. Aspiring artists would get into painting film hoardings. They had no time for their own creative work.”Even after Cholamandal and Sarala’s started exhibiting works of talented artists, sales remained poor, says Sarala. “Most visitors to the gallery came out of curiosity or exposure to art from travel, but most still bought traditional Tanjore paintings because that’s what they were familiar with.”Chennai was insulated from other cities, mainly owing to the language barrier, says Anahita Banerjee, co-director at Sarala’s. “Artists here were shy and did not aggressively market themselves in other cities.” She recalls how her grandfather would bring down works by artists such as M F Husain and Jahangir Sabawala, but had to coax people into buying them, even in the 1980s. “They are worth crores today.”The 1980s saw the launching of galleries such as Apparao Galleries, but again, it was and still is a “passion project for the love of art” more than all else, says Sharan Apparao, founder. “Collectors in Delhi and Bombay were not interested in the works of artists who remained in Madras, unless they moved north or to Baroda and made a name for themselves, like K G Subramaniam. Their prices were low compared to the works of Husain and S H Raza.”After 2000, with liberalisation, business grew bit by bit in Chennai,” says Sharan. “Most industrialists here still supported performing arts rooted in religion and tradition, but there were a few who supported art.”The boom, says Sarala, came in 2004-2005, though there have been dips later. “Tanjore works will continue to be popular, but contemporary art has takers now.” Art awareness is now at its height, says Sharan. “There are many players now, and people keep travelling across cities. Social media, online markets and technology have made the art market more transparent. “Everyone has their eyes on Chennai artists such as Paniker and P Perumal now, artists they had no clue about. Chennai will get ‘hot’ soon,” says Sharan.Chennai artists are exhibiting their works outside India and at online auctions. Still, the art market remains slow when compared to other cities, says Sekhar Sitharaman, art collector. “Few artists are present at the national level.”Some, such as the late Achuthan Kudalloor, have been gaining traction in the north. “The same work which sells for `2 lakh in Chennai may go for `12 lakh when it goes to Delhi. But our artists are nowhere near the crore range.” Younger artists market themselves better but not well enough, he adds.Even today, many buyers in Chennai purchase directly from artists rather than from galleries, he says. “The artists either underprice or quote unrealistically high rates. It also cuts out commissions that help galleries promote artists.”Many buyers here are first-time collectors, often influenced by architects and interior designers, says Srila Chatterjee, founder of Baro Art, Mumbai, which travels to different cities conducting ‘the affordable art show’. “This year the footfalls felt quieter,” she says. “But that is part of how young markets evolve.”What can be observed, particularly through their auction history, says Manoj Mansukhani, director of marketing at AstaGuru Auction House, is that several artists from the Madras Art Movement have demonstrated consistently strong market performance when their works have come to auction in recent years. “In our auction results, works by artists such as K M Adimoolam, Achuthan Kudallur and P V Janakiram have surpassed their higher estimates, suggesting buyers are approaching these works with a clear understanding of their artistic and market value.”“To create a market, more people should buy and compete with each other,” says Sharan. “The more people are interested in a work, the more the visibility and the better the pricing.”Galleries in Chennai should proactively contextualise Madras artists and elevate them to the level of national artists, says Madras Art Movement artist C Douglas. “But above all, art has its value regardless of the market.”
