Indian Contemporary Art

The tremendously vast scope of Indian art intertwines with its cultural history, philosophies and religions, placing art production and its patronage in cultural and social contexts. There is a strong sense of design which is characteristic to Indian Art and this can be observed in its traditional as well as modern forms.


The Indian contemporary art kicked off in the early 20th century, as a sort of a renaissance under the leadership of the famed Tagore family. Indian artists had begun increasing the forms they used their work, with painting and sculpting holding up its position. However, it found radical new directions in the works of leading artists such as Subodh Gupta, Narayanan Ramachandran, Bharti Kher, Devajyoti Ray and the like. Amongst these popular contemporary Indian artists, some of them were deeply inclined towards exploiting the great Indian heritage and hence focused on the great Indian epics, the murals of Ajanta-Ellora, miniature paintings, etc.

Indian Contemporary Art


Every Indian gallery today, showcases both traditional as well as Indian contemporary art pieces, some of which are audacious and vigorous, yet graceful and sophisticated paintings. They are mainly the manifestations of the myriad art forms. The contemporary Indian art fuses a unique entity reflecting the intuitive and emotions of Indian culture, employed with the soft touch of Indian elegance. The popular contemporary Indian artists include famed names such as Deepak Shinde, Sanjay Bhattacharya, Satish Gujral, Jatin Das, S.H. Raza, Laxman Shreshtha, etc.


Before Indian Independence, the pioneer of contemporary art was Abanindranath Tagore, who incorporated the Chinese and Japanese styles into his work. He was shortly followed by many other Indian painters such as Rabindranath Tagore, Amrita Shergill, Samarendranath Gupta, Jamini Roy, etc, hence developing the Indian Contemporary Style.


Indian contemporary art, today gathers inspiration from all over the world. With several Indian artists migrating to the Western countries, art for them has become a form of expression merging their experiences of their Indian past with their current western culture. Despite this, Indian contemporary art still retains its exceptional ‘Indianness’.


Indian Contemporary Art Market


The current market of contemporary Indian art is booming day by day. There seems to be a phrase floating around the artistic community of the nation. The following facts stand as proofs to the booming contemporary art market in India.


Reports have suggested that art business is presently worth about US $40 billion and ever since the year 2003, the Indian art market has grown at an average rate of 20-30% every year. Yet news that was the highlight of the contemporary Indian art market was the 1980 artwork by an Indian artist that sold at $2500, but reaches a current figure of about $1 million.


Additionally, a recent report of the Fortune magazine revealed that the Indian art market has risen over 485% in the last decade and today, the fourth largest and the most positive art market in the world.

Thus, the Indian contemporary art seems to promise a brighter future for every Indian artist without doubt.