Last year, the Indian Art Summit had 34 galleries and they reported sales of about 50% of their stock during the four-day art fair. This year there are more galleries, over 50, but the pre-opening talk was of marketing and collector cultivation, not sales. Now the Times of India puts a positive spin on the first day’s sales:
As doors opened to the public at the India Art Summit’s second edition on Thursday, the footfalls surprised a lot of people. And so did the red stickers that started appearing before works, dispelling some of the gloom in the art market. By the end of the day, over 50% of the galleries that were taking part in the summit had notched up at least one or two sales. The costliest work at the summit a piece by the Mumbai-born Anish Kapoor worth upwards of a crore had sold and another had been reserved. “More than 20 people were after the Anish Kapoor. We were not expecting such a response,” said Michelle D’Souza, director of the London-based Lisson gallery which brought Kapoor to India for the first time.
Sales Bouy Mood at Art Summit (Times of India)