DIGITAL COPY ON MAGZTERMy habit for ‘collecting’ began when I was
a toddler. At that time it did not require
any investment – smooth round pebbles,
coloured shells by the beach, a fallen
flower from the garden, and sometimes, a
savoury nut for a secret midnight snack.
My collection grew with me till I chanced
upon art and realised that collecting art
was a far more evolved act than what I had
been doing since childhood. It was anything
but a random undertaking. This required
more than just passion and was far from
an unconscious habit. As my interest in art
inflamed, I began to acquire more knowledge
about art, artists, the period, etc... And
soon it became an obsession. You may not
always have the money to buy the art you
want but you follow its journey waiting for
the opportune moment. And then I began
wondering how people before me would
have chased this obsession. And I began to
understand that however old you might be
the excitement never wanes. ‘I honestly still
feel excited about acquisitions made five or
ten years ago,’ a senior collector told me.
That set me thinking.What is the difference between young art
collectors and experienced ones besides the
obvious issue of money? Often, young art
collectors are not able to afford blue-chip
artworks, nor are they able to afford to
buy as many artworks as they would have
wanted. Of course, there are exceptions to
that rule – there are individuals that, through
inheritance or family ties, actually have those
amounts of money. For example, Qatar’s
Sheikha Al-Mayassa. But, there are a large
number of young collectors who are simply
not as rich as their older competitors and
colleagues. Because of that, they usually go
for what is now termed ‘affordable art’ rather
than attending big ticket auctions such as
those of Christie's, Sotheby’s or Bonhams.
However, whichever age group they may
belong to, they agree on one point: buying
art is one thing, building a collection is quite
another. That requires money, intellect,
strategy, personality, character and vision.
We talk to two known names: Kiran Nadar
giving us that nuanced perspective and Jai
Danani, giving us an informed one. What
binds the two is an unwavering passion for
art, no matter which period it belongs to, but
where they differ is how they go about it.iN coNVeRsaTioN wiTH Two well-kNowN collecToRs of
iNDiaN coNTeMPoRaRY aRT – kiRaN NaDaR aND jai DaNaNi –
as THeY sHaRe THeiR iNsiGHTs oN wHaT Makes a GooD BUY,
a GooD collecToR aND THaT all iMPoRTaNT qUesTioN, wHY
collecT aRT aT all?The Collectibles
By Niharika Peri
In Conversation(^62) / arts illustrated / feb 2016 - mar 2016 /IAF - Delhi Connecting Art