A recent conversation with Pheroza J. Godrej on art investment offers some interesting clues.

Arranged courtesy Forbes India magazine, its excerpts were published on the leading financial portal Moneycontrol. Giving a backgrounder to the popular phenomenon of art investment, the conversation with her mentioned:

“Some investors were influenced by the increasing interest in art, on the back of successful auctions and growing participation of top Indian artists in international exhibits so they did not want to be left out. For them unfortunately, art had already attained a high premium by then. The changed scenario is that there’s no desperate selling in the market. There are not many good works easily available to be bought at a throwaway price.”

The founder of Cymroza Art Gallery notes that sales have now picked up within a range of up to Rs. 5 lakh post correction. She stated: “Sales have slowly picked up within a price range of works under Rs.5 lakh.” This, she feels, is indeed a healthy trend, since the price levels could be pushed up slowly to Rs.10 lakh+ range. In fact, her broad investment idea is to start small. Her key suggestion to aspiring collectors is:

“Buy works of art you are prepared to live with. And returns will eventually come. Her word of advice to them is to buy a smaller canvas within their budget. She sums up to state:

“My view is that something as precious as art should not have been treated as a commodity to be traded in the market. Art is something personal in nature. You need to develop an interest in it and do so with a passion. Don’t just buy only from the point of view of how much it will appreciate in value. You have not to do it just to make money and surely not for a short-term.”