Saturday, January 21, 2012

The art world’s in action, Art Market,Savvy dealers, Power players, player stealers.No more need to put out feelers

In the realm of established galleries and seasoned collectors, most of the major players already know each other and specific collectors' tastes, specifications, preferences, and budgets are pretty much a matter of record among those they do business with. When new arrivals come in, dealers examine them, make sure they're quality works, and then contact the most likely buyers. Selling art with a phone call makes far more sense than investing time, effort, money, and uncertainty to hang it, market it, and wait for likely buyers to walk through the gallery doors. Plus seasoned collectors are often willing to pay premiums for the right to quietly acquire the best art first. Contemporary art galleries build up new artists who only appear at auction later. So roaming the galleries is the way to pick up emerging talent. Getting to meet both established and young artists is one of the joys of collecting contemporary art, and that is done through galleries.Before buying think of where you will place the piece so that it has maximum effect. Art is made to be seen and not to end up in the garage. You can mix styles, eras and regions, but the pieces must speak to each other.

Don't confuse the size of an artist's listing in a dictionary or encyclopedia with the monetary value of his art. Long listings do not automatically mean big bucks, short ones don't always mean pocket change. Fair market values are based far more on supply and demand among dealers, collectors, and the state of the art market than they are on the amount of information that you find in biographical references. Buy what you like, not fashionable status symbols. You have to live with the works, their dividends should be the pleasure of looking at them.Do your homework by visiting galleries and studying auctions. Fairs are the way to compare a wealth of galleries under one roof. Auctions are transparent, providing collectors with benchmark prices that serve as a guide to how much collectors should be paying. Auction houses provide an enormous amount of price information on their websites.

There's an excitement in buying at auction, where enthusiasts compete against one another. But beware of auction fever when heated bidding can push prices to crazy levels. Set a maximum above which you will not go, and stick to it. This limit should take into account costs on top of the price at which a piece is hammered down. They include buyer's premium (commission paid to auction house) and, in many countries, a royalty for the artist's resale right. Always check the condition of your desired piece. The great majority of art is in the possession of its rightful owners, but under certain circumstances, if you get caught with stolen art, you are financially responsible for it's return and not the party who sold it to you. Laws and statutes vary from state to state and country to country. Know what the situation is where you live and do business. Also be aware that IFAR, the International Foundation for Art Research, maintains a stolen art database; you can always check with them if you have suspicions or just to be on the safe side.



The Ashok Art Gallery is internationally known for one of its most important holdings: more than 2000 major works by the world's most significant Artists.Over the past years, as Ashok Art Gallery has become a major centre for contemporary visual art, the Gallery has built a strong collection of contemporary work of different artists, we became a sponsor of the STANDUP-SPEAKOUT Artshow, Organized by Art Of Living Foundation and United Nations.Organized an International Contenmporary Art Exhibition including artists from USA, The Nederlands, Pakistan and India.We have also participated at Art Expo India 2008, 09 Mumbai and India Art Summit 2008 New Delhi.