Fakes trouble India’s booming art market
Over the next few days, India’s biggest art show will witness a frenzy of buying, but before opening their wallets, collectors should be aware of Arpana Caur’s cautionary tale.
During a recent visit to a gallery in New Delhi, the 57-year-old artist identified two paintings that were copied from her “Nanak” series that depicts the life of the founder of the Sikh religion.
She says her investigation revealed that her former apprentice and framer were running a racket employing art students to copy her works and then sell them to new galleries.
“It’s not just the paintings that were copied. My signature and certificate of authentication were being forged too,” she added. “The problem of fake art is not new in the global art world, but in India this cancer has spread beyond your imagination.”
Caur is not alone in her worry. The country’s most celebrated artists M.F. Husain, S.H. Raza and Satish Gujral have also been victims of sophisticated counterfeiters.
A total of 500 artists will be on show at the third India Art Summit, which opens in a sprawling exhibition hall in the Indian capital on Thursday.
Does that mean the Andy Warhol copy that I had painted of myself by an art student in New Delhi isn’t worth anything?
I love it!!