Daily Times

This year in May Bonhams, an international auction house, held an auction in London devoted only to Pakistani art.

Pakistani contemporary artists like Rashid Rana, Imran Qureshi, including those who have moved overseas like Shahzia Sikander, have emerged as well known commodity in the global art world. However, in terms of commercial market niche, art from Pakistan is mostly categorised by international art market under South Asian art or Indian art – an extension of Colonial era history.

With the newer generation of artists yielding good prices at home and abroad, many of the older generation artists still do not have an established value especially at international level. Those who like Sadequain or Chughtai are vulnerable to fakes doing the rounds of the market. As a result, one needs to be extra vigilant. So is the case with Jamil Naqsh and some others. On the other side, in comparison to what are the prevailing domestic prices, it is difficult to assess the true value of Khalid Iqbal or Ahmed Pervez, in-spite of their defining stature in Pakistani modern art.

Branding of Pakistani art in a devoted auction by Bonhams was a positive step given breadth of work being produced by the country’s artists and it’s 70 years of independence. The auction went well and Bonhams house sold 85 percent of the pieces it offered in what is known as “lot” in the auction world. The auction had a wide expose of work ranging from old masters; Sadequain, Chughtai and Allah Bux, to Ahmed Pervaiz, Bashir Mirza, Tassaduq Suhail, and Gulgee to present day artists like Wasim Ahmed, Mudassar Manzur, and Attiya Shaukat.

As with all these auctions, huge amounts of work and planning goes into preparations of auction lots. Finding and collecting art pieces that would attract buyers, setting the correct prices to generate interest, and getting the artists that have traction in the market or could have the potential to create ripples are some key strategic factors. Another key element is provenance – meaning the history and documentation of the possession of artwork since the artist created it. Sometimes provenance of a work takes precedence over many other qualities. Usually in the western art provenance is easier to prove than say Pakistan where nature of transaction especially in art world was more on personal and private basis. Though with expanding art market, increased number of galleries, art dealers and commercially conscious young artists, most works of art now have better documentation.

A Pakistan focussed international auction in western world should serve as a good way forward for Pakistani art. It also afforded opportunity for opening of market to some of the old masters. Works from Allah Bux, Shamza or Ahmad Pervez are expected to be again in vogue and sought by general collectors. Sadequain’s works got the highest prices in the auction including his larger piece Crucifixion that got $150,000 and was also widely reported in county’s print and electronic media.

The main force behind the Bonhams auction is Tahmina Ghaffar, Bonhams’ Specialist in Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art who felt that wide range of creativity coming from the country and it‘s identity as Pakistani art needed to be acknowledged by auction houses and the market demand was also ripe for a Pakistan centric art auction. Given the solid response to the May auction, Bonhams plans to offer Pakistani art auctions in future.

Three works of Ahmed Pervaiz were sold including an oil on canvas, which went for $25,000. It reminded me of the difficult last days of the artist when he was found dying in a hotel room in Karachi. Ironically earlier in the same city of auction; London, as recounted by Akbar Naqvi in his Image and Identity, Ahmed Pervaiz struggled there to open doors of galleries for almost a decade before returning to Pakistan. And in the same city London, his work was at most recognized by local critics as “a curiosity from the Islamic Third World” rather than an accomplished international modern painter no less than any other.

Allah Bux’s work was another success at the auction. His three works, oil on canvas Potato Farmer, a watercolour, and a bigger Family Scene in oil all yielded good value. Amongst the surprises included interest in work of Lubna Agha. It was also interesting to learn that bidders at the auction were of diverse backgrounds including younger Pakistani diaspora. This is a change of demographics from a decade ago when Pakistani modern art mostly attracted older affluent patrons.

All is not great about auctions contributing to art especially for living artists. Once market is invested in a certain artist, it becomes a vested interest to keep the prices high to secure investments. It also affects the long-term prices of an artist. An odd piece or two going at high price sometimes means that the artist is victim of own success because future works may not yield similar value and the artist is not able to sale quantum of work.

Pakistan’s leading visual arts force, Salima Hashmi views, “Auction houses too have their own agenda, which may put the spotlight on particular artists and raise awareness of Pakistani artists, but their concern is neither to do with intellectual concerns, which lie behind an artist’s work, nor the wider picture of art history and its contexts – always remember that they are a business!”

Expanding art market in country and abroad for Pakistani artists augurs well in over all schemes of things and should prove beneficial for all artists and their creative prowess. A sign of good economic times as compared to when most of the famous names struggled to survive financially despite professional and national recognition.

The writer can be reached at smt2104@caa.columbia.edu