Art by Proxy

“Madam,we are giving 15 per cent discount at this time,” says an employee,who then holds up his hand and says,“No photography please.” Step a little closer and you will realise why — the paintings are completely unsigned or,in some instances,signed vaguely.

So it’s clear. These are actually look-alike paintings made by some lesser-known artists who float around at smaller art galleries and at anonymous framer shops in the Capital. They have a flair for making works inspired by even big names like John Constable — The Haywain being the most popular,since it sells like hot cakes.

“Many struggling artists come under pressure to make look-alike or what we call proxy art. The lesser-known galleries make a quick buck out of it,while undiscerning buyers also feel excited at owning something that looks like a Husain,a Gujral or an Anjolie Ela Menon,” says Sunaina Anand of Art Alive Gallery.

“When artwork are ‘inspired’ by well-known artists and the counterfeiter has not signed it,there is little one can do to stop plagiarism,even through the Copyright Act,” says Menon,who has been keeping a close track on the grey art market ever since her assistant Hamid was caught in 2004 for faking her paintings and signing them as hers.

No wonder then,that an exhibition at the Travancore Palace,hosted by a South Extension gallery called AnYahh Art,is doing brisk business with “affordable art”. Stocking up artwork ‘inspired’ by various painters,the owner must be laughing all the way to the bank. A canvas by Jeshu Nag comes for Rs 52,000 and it resembles the work of Nitin Ugte; for Rs 81,000,Ambuha’s painting of the mirror image of a woman covered with body paint,is an open reference to photographic work by Yasmina Alaoui and Marco Guerra. Dipankar Sikdar has echoes of Dhruvi Acharya and so it goes. “We promote up-and-coming artists and you will not find art of this quality at these prices,” says the owner.

Ideologically,the idea of making art that references pre-existing artwork is not an offence. It is billed as quotation art.

Many well-known painters such as Atul Dodiya and TV Santosh are constantly quoting other painters,photographers and film-makers. “Artists should be original,but even well-known artists are often influenced by others. For instance,VS Gaitonde was inspired by Mark Rothko,” points out Saffronart director,Dinesh Vazirani. “It’s a part of the learning process. However,copying it ditto is unethical. If you can’t own an original,put up a print,” he says.

Usually,seasoned collectors buy artwork from good sources,with all the provenance papers in order. But as artist Gigi Scaria says,“A large section of our society is not art literate and it’s easy to pull the wool over their eyes.”