Anish Kapoor most successful living artist

The Hurun Research Institute, better known for compiling China’s Rich List, released its first-ever India Art List 2019 last week. It gave the ranking of top 50 artists alive by the valuation of their work sold in the auction houses from April 2018 to March 2019. UK-based Anish Kapoor topped the list with total realised sale of Rs 168.25 crore, followed by Akbar Padamsee and Krishen Khanna.

Kapoor (65) is known for using granite, marble, limestone and plaster to make geometric structures. He is the only artist to own the exclusive right to use the ‘blackest black’ pigment in the world developed by Vantablack. 

Akbar Padamsee (90) took the second spot. His works were sold for a total estimated value of Rs 45.84 crore. With 38 works sold last year, Padamsee has exhibited his works in several solo exhibitions, including Past Forward, Priyasri Art Gallery, Mumbai, in 2013 and Metascape to Humanscape at Aicon Gallery, New York, and Palo Alto.

With the total sale of Rs 9.48 crore, modernist painter Krishen Khanna (93) is at the third spot. Forty four of his works sold in the past year. His most valued work is his contribution to Tash ke Patte (Deck of Cards), which had collectively made $365mn in 2017.

Jogen Chowdhury (80) comes fourth supported by a sale value of over Rs 7.78 crore for his works. Paris-educated Chaudhary returned to India with a bespoke style in contemporary art. His better-known paintings are in oil, ink, water-colour, and pastel. Thirty five lots of his works were successfully auctioned last year. One of his most valued work of art titled Situation X, was sold for Rs 2.70 crore at Saffronart online auction in 2006.

New Delhi-based artist and sculptor Subodh Gupta (54) takes the fifth place; 7 of his works sold through auction fetched cumulative successful bids worth Rs 6.55 crore. His art incorporates around every day Indian household objects themed to celebrate the lifestyle of the middle-class India. Gupta’s most famous work is the Line of Control.

Interestingly, Padamsee is the most expensive Indian artist in 2019 — one of his works was auctioned for Rs 11.70 crore. He is closely followed by Anish Kapoor whose work sold for Rs 9.31 crore. 

Anish Kapoor, by far, takes the number one spot for the most sought-after artist in the list. 102 lots of his works were auctioned during last year — this twice more than the second most sought after artist, Krishen Khanna, whose 44 works were sold in 2019. Of the total 605 works of art sold, Kapoor’s work contributes 102, or 17 per cent. After a wide margin, Krishen Khanna and Sakti Burman follow with close to 7 per cent each. — TNS

Where they live

While West Bengal is the origin of the majority of the artists in the list, New Delhi is the preferred city to pursue their careers. Next is Maharashtra that is abode to all artists in the list from the state. In Gujarat, Vadodara is the preferred city. Outside of India, most artists on the list chose France as their country of residence. The UK and the US are also preferred.