The Wall Street Journal’s India Real Time blog tries to sketch a portrait of the new Indian art collector who is now primarily an NRI or Indian National:
But within this category of buyers, things are rapidly changing. As India’s economy is growing, so is the portion of the population that can afford to invest in art. This means many buyers are actually new to the art market – something that was reflected in last year’s summit when around 40% of sales went to first-time buyers.
As a result, the profile of collectors is changing too. Many new buyers are young, well-traveled corporate executives who made big money working in banking or in the country’s software industry. They tend to be more open to the daring trends of contemporary art than their older counterparts, some of whom are long-time patrons of Indian Modernists.
Who Buys Indian Art? (India Real Times/Wall Street Journal)