Barclays Wealth

Barclays Wealth sponsors exhibitions by two leading Indian artists

Barclays Wealth, a leading global wealth manager, announces its sponsorship of two contemporary Indian Art exhibitions - 'The Mother Teresa Series' by M.F.Husain and 'The Five Rays of Raza' by S.H.Raza. The two legends are founding members of the Progressive Art Movement and their work can now be seen together in their first UK show.

Contemporary Indian art has experienced a global boom during the past decade that mirrors the economic growth of India, with prices rising approx 485%.  The Indian art market's recovery could take place earlier than expected, according to a report by London-based art market research firm ArtTactic Ltd. The report states that there is renewed confidence in the market, which had dipped to an all-time low six months ago. A recent change is that whilst Indian art had been bought almost entirely by Indian collectors (mainly based outside India), it is now increasingly being collected by non-Indians.

Michael Demirel, Managing Director, Barclays Wealth International Private Bank commented: "It is a great pleasure for us to host such a notable exhibition of two highly respected figures within the contemporary Indian art world. I am certain this will be of great interest to both art lovers and collectors alike and we look forward to the opening of the exhibition at our offices in Mayfair."

Prices in contemporary Indian art now reflect the level and strength of international interest. In the mid-1990s, no Indian contemporary painting had sold at auction for more than £50,000 (when contemporary European and American works were selling for millions) but now the top artists are fetching seven-figure sums.

Since launching regular Indian modern at sales in New York in 2000, worldwide sales in this category at Christie's, for example, saw an increase from US$660,000 to over US$45 million by 2008. Both Indian and international collectors have renewed confidence in this art movement, destined to be the next big thing, as witnessed in this Summer's auctions at Christie's and Sotheby's; as well as the enormous interest at both the Venice Biennale, and FIAC this year.

Established 'blue-chip' artists, such as Raza, have seen stability and even growth - one of Raza's paintings, La Terre (1973), sold for £1.3 million at Christie's London in June 2008 (his previous world record was Tapovan (1972), which sold for $1.5 million at Sotheby's New York in 2006. Prices are likely to increase dramatically in the next 18 months, with the forthcoming Contemporary Indian Art show at The Saatchi Gallery - 'The Empire Strikes Back' and a Husain show at the Tate Modern, both scheduled for 2010. 

The exhibitions are exclusive to Tanya Baxter Contemporary in the UK, and will be showcased at Barclays Wealth's Brook Street offices on 10th and 11th December.  After opening at Barclays Wealth the exhibition will move to the Mayfair gallery of Tanya Baxter Contemporary and Kings Road Gallery until 31st January 2010.

For further information contact:

Lucy Davidson, Barclays Wealth
+44 (0) 20 7114 8947

Russell Cassleton Elliott, Cassleton Elliott & Co. Ltd
+44 (0) 7808 403 963

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