ANALYZING ART

APPRECIATING ART

INVESTMENT: ART VS REAL ESTATE VS STOCKS

GOOD AND BAD ART

ANALYSING ARTIST AND ART INVESTMENTS

DECIPHERING THE COMPLEX ART WORLD

ANALYZING ART

It needs intuition, experience and knowledge about art to analyze and to develop deeper understanding of Art while these elements complement each other. Usually trained intuition is a cultural development that happens with a kind of engagement with the creative and critical practices.  This consistent interaction with the field of art and culture enriches our experience both for its economics and aesthetics and also develops certain kind of sensitivity.

To analyze an artwork, primarily it needs a proper understanding of the formal elements with which it is comprised of. It is similar to an exercise that we perform when we hear a piece of music. Before going deep into the charisma of the song, we have to pass through its basic elements like its structure, form and the way it is composed.  Similarly, with the visual art we need to journey through its formal devices like line, form, composition and color before reaching its content and aesthetics. This is how these elements are composed that becomes language of an artist with which we identify him/her.

Analyzing art and its appreciation are not vastly different acts. In the appreciation of art we need both the intuition and experience along with proper articulating skills. Just like the language that we speak and understand that makes our world comprehensive.

One important aspect that we need to keep in mind while appreciating and analyzing a work of art is the context and the historical conditions in which that work is made. Such contextual location of the work would allow the work to provide a better understanding of the cultural production to which it belongs. So we need to compare and relate the work, its language, treatment of the material and its theme with time and space of ‘creation’. This allows us to understand the significance to the work of art within its historical position and gives a proper structure to appreciate and criticize it.

ART APPRECIATION IN THE LAST 5 YEARS

If we see the developments of the market of this decade of the millennium, market has become an important factor regarding the appreciation and analysis of art. Here we also need to consider the politics of the market about how an artist is made visible or not and on what factors, some obvious and some otherwise. The value of a work of art since Modernism depends on the cultural capital of the artist, which in turn is developed by the market. It is developed by the consistent circulation of the work of a particular artist and the value that is constructed around him/her. So, now the seemingly booming market that everyone in the field is celebrating needs to be considered and understood in its operative principles to appreciate and analyze ‘art now’. 

Every work of art is a masterpiece and is very unique from other asset classes. Art appreciation is also a function of support and demand some what like other asset classes, differenting itself based on artistic genius and historical significances affecting a particular body of Art.

Its important to note that Indian Art has clocked an appreciation of over 800% in the years 2003-2008.

INVESTMENT: ART VS REAL ESTATE VS STOCKS

Primarily the difference between Art and other ‘investments’ like in Real Estate or Stocks is the difference between structure and discourse of each ‘field’. Though Art is thought and made as an investment option, it inevitably has a cultural and historical significance within the social fabric and to its own ‘field’ as well. This is not to say that the object of Art is not an economical one. But unlike the other economical/commercial fields, art has a symbolic value, which many a time works inversely to the economic value. Within the discourse of market it is the art agencies such as auction houses, art galleries and art funds that determines the economic transactions. Coming now to the ‘other’ commercial ‘fields’ there is no contested object that inherits the symbolic value and of course there is no cultural implication to complicate. In-contrast, Real Estate is clearly driven by principles of regional demand and supply and has no historical value significance.  Population explosion, scaricity of land and commerical developments move real estate prices up and down. Stock on the other hand is higher risk, high return Asset Class. No amount of math can dictate its direction and is privy to market sentiments and speculations. There is surely no historical significance or crafty genius to these instruments. The bulls and bears lock horns to move the markets. In the short and long run art is surely far ahead of both real estate and stocks in terms of Return on Investment.

GOOD AND BAD ART

‘Good’ and ‘bad’ about art is a popular binary opposition that are given to us to judge a work of art or for that matter any thing in the world. It’s been long that this kind of judgment is contested substantially and made us realize the inadequacies of such metaphysical thought. So we need to see good and bad in art at their relative existence and also we have to see art works in terms of its own aesthetic qualities. Some works are complete in its expression where as others lack in that. We need to understand that lack ness with the help of the understanding of a completeness of the expression. This understanding would help you for both analyzing the work as well as in investing in it. 

ANALYSING ARTIST AND ART INVESTMENTS  

The kind of understanding that we have discussed above is important also in the case of analyzing an artist at his/her work and also in relation to the market to invest. We need to analyze an artist’s work in relation with his/her history and journey of his/her artistic endeavors and his achievements within his own practice of art – language, politics and ideological positioning. This understanding would help someone who wants to invest on an artist’s works and also determines the future of such investment. It is advisable to not just get seduced by the kind of art that is selling instantly (which might vanish soon from the scene) but develop a better understanding of the quality of the art work in relation to its history and culture which will have a long term importance. Art Elements highly recommended following artists' works for serious investment; A Ramachandran, Ram Kumar, Raghu Rai, S.H Raja, Sakti Burman, M.F Husain, Manu Parekh, Arpana Caur, Kriti Arora.

DECIPHERING THE COMPLEX ART WORLD

Art is really a complex world for an outsider and a complicated problem for an insider. It is because of the structure of its discourse itself and the kind of value system that it developed.