Net worth of art

Amarjot Kaur

With Internet boom, there has been a steep rise in art-selling e-commerce websites in the last five years, which has now grown to approximately 20 in number. While some of these websites function on peer-to-peer business model, there are others that deal in the secondary market, procuring artworks from private collectors and art galleries, and host online auctions as well. However, the core idea of all the websites, as they put it, is to promote art, cut off the middlemen, and give a platform to amateur artists. The Tribune Life+Style takes stock.

Peer-to-peer

Shobhit Arora of World Art Community (worldartcommunity.com) founded the website two years ago. “Ours is a peer-to-peer market space. If you are an artist, you can create your own shop with us. We don’t stock products and charge 10 per cent commission from the artists. As of now, we have 5,000 artists and designers engaging with us,” he says.

The main idea behind making the website, he says, is to give the artists of India a commercial platform. “We have a lot of talent in India, but no commercial platform—that’s where we come in. The customers can buy artworks directly from the artistes, thereby eliminating the middlemen. We are a platform for emerging artists and sell over 600 to 700 artworks a month, including pottery, paintings, sculptures etc,” he shares. The most expensive paintings available on worldartcommunity.com are priced at Rs 25 lakh, titled Bliss by Rajasekharan and Momentum by Sunando Basu. The cheaper ones can be purchased at Rs 500 by the name Anuj Art.

Egalitarian model

At Mojarto (mojarto.com), Monisha Chowla, head of marketing and business alliances, shares that Mojarto is a curated market network, discovery, and buying platform. “We promise our customers a handpicked selection of art and collectibles at very accessible prices. Our egalitarian model encourages promotions of artists from modern masters, to senior contemporary to emerging artists. We have 5,500 plus artists on Mojarto directly or via galleries,” she says.

Some of the artists on Mojarto are Laxma Goud, Thota Vaikuntham, Manu Parekh, Surya Prakash, Paresh Maity, Jogen Chowdhury, Seema Kohli, Dattatraya Apte, Gouri Vermula, Arpana Caur, and Sanjiv Gogoi. “Our artwork sales have been increasing over the last few months, and our recent trends also show an increase in sales for original art, especially with our NRI customers,” she adds, refusing to give any figures. Monisha adds that Mojarto works hand-in-hand with galleries and their aim is to aggregate a variety of artworks, and reach a global art market. “We don’t set the prices. Instead, we give independence to the artist/gallery to set the price,” she writes in an email-interview.

On Mojarto, Quism: Life Cycle by Debashis Jana is priced at Rs 94.84 lakh and Untitled by Surya Prakash in acrylic on canvas is priced at Rs 95 lakh, making them the most expensive paintings on the website that also sells Chandigarh-based artist Madan Lal’s artwork for Rs 21 lakh.

Online auctions

There are websites like postergully.com and posterdunia.com that sell pop-art for as less as Rs 170. Also, websites like saffronart.com organise online auctions for artworks, with the recent one starting on September 21 and has artworks (in 81 lots) by prominent artists like FN Sousa, SH Raza, Ram Kumar, Jehangir Sabavala, and M F Husain up for bidding.

The other prominent e-commerce art websites are artzolo.com, artflute.com, indiaart.com, emergingartists.in, sanchitart.in, storyltd.com, bestcollegeart.com, engrave.in, artofcolors.in and auraart.com.

What artists say

Shiv Kumar Soni, 24, who collaborates with worldartcommunity.com shares that he hails from a village called Bidasar in Churu district of Rajasthan. “As young artists, online websites are a better option. I make around Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 a month, on an average,” he says. Chandigarh’s Madan lal, on the other hand says that putting his works up on the websites gets him a wider audience. “A lot of people see your work. In galleries, only art lovers and artists visit. As far as money goes, selling one’s art online saves one the effort of printing catalogues, invites and all that jazz. It’s convenient and I have gotten a fair response here,” he shares.

Curator calling

Chairman of Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi, Bheem Malhotra shares that online exhibitions do not give an interactive platform to both, the buyer and the artist. “Live exhibitions are more interactive, but online exhibitions are better for upcoming, young artists. Even at Lalit Kala Akademi, we don’t sell or purchase artwork. We give the artist’s phone numbers to customers and they buy from them directly. Last year, in December, Lalit Kala Akademi took the exhibition by Chandigarh artistes to Rabindra Bhawan, New Delhi, and sold artworks worth 2 lakh. Also, in April this year, we organised an exhibition of artworks by Chandigarh artists in Jawahar Kala Kendra of Jaipur and sold artworks worth Rs 75,000. With over 200 artists from the city, we don’t even take commission from them,” he says.

Meanwhile, Diwan Manna President, Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi, shares, “I did put up my works on Indianartcollectors.com before it was bought by Mojarto, but I have not sold a single piece. Mainly people buy stuff to decorate their houses, but a serious buyer looks at art as an investment. Online art is here to stay though.”

amarjot@tribunemail.com