Returns on Indian Art during 2000-2013

The market for modern Indian art is an emerging art market, having come into a proper existence only in the late 1990s. This market saw tremendous growth in its initial years, then a downturn that started around 2007-2008. Using data from auctions conducted by a major Indian art auctioneer, we estimate via hedonic regression a price index for paintings and drawings by Indian artists sold during 2000-2013. We are able to thus estimate a rate of return on Indian art as an investment and also shed light on what drives the price of a painting in the Indian market