2007年VOA标准英语-Indian Art Witnesses Boom Times

By Anjana Pasricha
New Delhi
08 July 2007

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M.F. Husain, India's most famous artist, finishes off a canvas he painted together with Shah Rukh Khan, unseen, one of India's biggest movie stars, during a fund-raising auction in a central London's auction house, 7 Jun 2007

Indian modern art is witnessing boom times as wealthy Indians increase investments in paintings. Anjana Pasricha reports from New Delhi on the emerging Indian art market.

 

When a painting by Indian artist Tyeb Mehta was the first Indian work of art to fetch over a million dollars at an auction in 2005, skeptics dismissed it as a "one-off" sale.

 

Since then, more than 20 paintings have crossed the million-dollar mark at auctions² as the Indian art market booms.

Arun Vadhera runs an art gallery in Delhi and is an adviser³ to international auction house Christie's. He says the market is being driven by a new generation of wealthy Indians both at home and overseas.

 

"It is a sign of people feeling for the first time far more secure than their fathers did or their grandfathers did," said Vadhera.  "That was the time pretty much when people were establishing their businesses."

Prices have spiraled by an estimated 20-fold since 2000, with much of the rise coming in the last two years. Dozens of galleries, auction houses and websites have mushroomed to cater⁴ to the growing market for both well-known modern masters as well as lesser-known contemporary painters.

Art experts say the market began to grow with people who wanted to express pride in their cultural heritage.

Art dealers⁵ say interest is spreading beyond the Indian community. At recent auctions of Indian art by Christie's in New York and Hong Kong, foreign customers were among the buyers.

 

Indeed, sales are rising fast. They totaled $350 million in 2006, double the figure of the previous year. But Indian art still makes up just a tiny fraction of the $30-billion global art market.

Art expert Arun Vadhera says the Indian art market is still at a nascent⁶ stage. He compares it to the beginning of the information technology boom in India.

 

"I don't think Indian art is anywhere near its peak. On the contrary, it is at the same stage as technology was in the late eighties and early nineties. We have a long, long way to go," he added. "The buyer base is very small. Even so called 'investable' artists are also small in number."

 

Art experts are comparing the boom in Indian art to a similar one in China, which began a few years ago, fueled by a rising economy and a newly rich Chinese community.

1 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

2 auctions   

n.拍卖，拍卖方式( auction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They picked up most of the furniture at auctions in country towns. 他们大部分的家具都是在乡村镇上的拍卖处买的。 来自辞典例句
• Our dealers didn't want these cars, so we had to dump them at auctions. 我们的承销商都不要这些车子，因此我们只好贱价拍卖。 来自辞典例句

3 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

4 cater   

vi.(for/to)满足，迎合；(for)提供饮食及服务

参考例句：

• I expect he will be able to cater for your particular needs.我预计他能满足你的特殊需要。
• Most schools cater for children of different abilities.大多数学校能够满足具有不同天资的儿童的需要。

5 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

6 nascent   

adj.初生的，发生中的

参考例句：

• That slim book showed the Chinese intelligentsia and the nascent working class.那本小册子讲述了中国的知识界和新兴的工人阶级。
• Despite a nascent democracy movement,there's little traction for direct suffrage.尽管有过一次新生的民主运动，但几乎不会带来直接选举。