Lack of sales compelled multiple artists to leave the industry, say exhibition owners.
Bengaluru: Fine arts artists are not assured of selling their work due to a decline in demand in the art market, despite a 9 percent rise in turnover of the market according to a report from Grant Thornton.
Abhilash George, a fine arts artist, said that artists are not paid from exhibitions until sale happens and there is no guarantee. “If the sale happens, it is fine. If it doesn’t, then it is trouble to keep up,” he said.
Sreekumar K B, owner of Honeycomb art gallery agreed with the statement. “Artists for Indian Art Gallery have to give Rs. 9000 for setting up a panel of their art in the exhibition. If the sale happens, they get money, but it is no guarantee that they do,” he said.
He added that people now prefer Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital art.
Sreekumar also said that artists do back off when they do not get sales. “One of my clients set up a panel last year at the festival, but she didn’t get any sale, so she decided not to exhibit this year,” he said.
Safiya Hayath, owner of Shades Creative Gallery, said that the audience for fine arts is very niche. “The market is growing for traditional art. Top Indian artists get high prices for the art. But art lovers and collectors are the only audience. ,” she added.
She also said that the general public is not interested in fine art exhibitions. “There are so many art museums for tourists, yet visitors are very less.”
Rakesh Mishra, digital art professor from Fine Arts Academy of India said that a lot of people choose digital art over fine arts because of its commercial value. “Even the students in the academy opt for digital art if they want to do it professionally. Enrolment of students in traditional art is only out of interest,” he said.
He also said that the demand has significantly gone down in recent years. “In the past, artists used to sell their paintings for around Rs. 30,000 per piece, because of the demand. Now it has gone down. The artists also reduced the prices to around Rs. 5000. Digital art is more commercialized, and fine art is left for smaller audience with less demand,” he said.
He highlighted the issue of artists facing losses, saying that people leave the industry if their sales decline. “I have seen students and people who join other jobs like agriculture, clerical jobs after they leave the industry since it does not make profit or revenue,” he added.
