Art may be the new talking point in middle class India’s drawing rooms, most artists still struggle to make a living just from their creative ventures.
Art may be the new talking point in middle class India’s drawing rooms, most artists still struggle to make a living just from their creative ventures.
Delhi, a city of art aficionados, provides a lot of opportunities, but these come with harsh riders, making survival as an artist a huge struggle. Artist Anjali Tripathi, who has a day job as an art teacher at Matrikiran in Gurgaon, feels it is not easy being an artist.
Having trained as a textile designer, Anjali has exhibited numerous times at places across India, including Lalit Kala Akademi in Lucknow, Galerie Romain Rolland in New Delhi, and ITC Sheraton Saket in New Delhi. “The process of reaching the right audience is an arduous one,” says Anjali, who adds that she has been able to sell her paintings easily despite the growing competition.
“Art actually is a decoration item for many middle class families now, so there is a boom in demand for paintings,” she says, but reveals the downside of this growing demand. “Now, most people are buying art because of the colours. I even had prospective buyers demanding a change in colours in my painting they were interested in, but I cannot do that. I just cannot happen, I can’t even make two same paintings. Let alone change colours.”
Art will grow and boom in India, says Anjali, who feels “every Indian is an artist at heart and this creativity needs the right training for more artists to emerge. There is more respect for art teachers in schools now, I see and feel that. Art is everywhere, we need to teach our children to be free and just focus on inner creativity.”
For a new artist the process of just exhibiting their work can be harrowing — with indifferent government, inefficient art galleries and demanding buyers. “Emerging artists need exposure, in most art exhibitions there is a focus on old masters, we need to focus on developing our emerging artists,” says Anjali.
Self-taught painter Manjari Roy Pasricha, who left legal profession after marriage to solely focus on art, is comfortable selling her work to friends and to close circle of acquaintances. “If I didn’t have the support of my husband, I would have faced an uphill struggle to stay as an artist,” admits Manjari, who is exhibiting her paintings in public for the first time.
“If there is constant pressure to sell, I don’t feel it is art for the sake of art. It is more art for the sake of selling and that takes away something from your journey as an artist.
