By IANS
New Delhi : Bypassing the art galleries and museums, an art trade fair in the capital has brought together 40 artists from across the country to showcase their work as well as sell them to their clients directly.
Conceived by Adishwar Puri, the two-day All India Art Trade Fair, which started Friday, will give a platform to emerging as well as veteran artists to display their work as well as give customers an opportunity to interact with the artists.
“Globally, art trade fair is an emerging trend. It offers a unique opportunity to buy art works from professional artists directly without the involvement of the art gallery or the museum.”
“Moreover, in exhibiting their works in the galleries, artists have to pay a hefty commission and have to consult them before deciding on the price of their work. Here, the artist decides the price of his work and to participate in the fair individually, has to gift me one of his paintings!” Puri told IANS.
Not only that. Puri added that with the festive season on, this is also an ideal opportunity to buy affordable art to give away as gifts.
For those artists participating in the fair through an art gallery, the fee is Rs.50,000.
Puri said that the idea of the art trade fair came when he was in San Francisco and saw the San Francisco Art Trade Society Fair. And he decided to organise a similar fair in India.
Sangeeta Pathak, one of the professional artists from Baroda who has participated in the fair, said that an opportunity like this in the capital could give an artist a big boost.
“I am a professional artist and I keep exhibiting my works in different places. But an opportunity like this one, nonetheless, is very encouraging especially for those who hail from small towns. It gives one a very good exposure,” Pathak said.
Pathak has exhibited 15 of her paintings, most of which are done in acrylic or watercolour. The average price of her paintings is Rs.10,000.
Among the participating artists are Asha Gulati, Om Prakash, Deepika Dhiman, Anand Mishra, Hariharan Hiranandi, Sheela Khubchandani, J. Nandkumar, Shalendra P. Bokshe, Tapan Kar, Mohona Dutta and Rituparna Das.
“But it’s not just paintings that are on exhibition. There are photographs and sculptures as well,” Puri said.
“One of the interesting features of the fair, for instance, is the unique collection- Four Wheels-View from all Directions- by photographers S.L. Saini, Sunil Sharma, Ashwani Nagpal and Manoj Kumar.”
Artists from Jharkhand, Bhopal, Baroda, Surat, Aurangabad, Kolkata and Delhi are participating in the fair, which concludes Saturday.