How To Build An Art Collection In 10 Lakhs 

In 1962, shortly after they were married, a young couple in New York — he, a postal clerk and she, a librarian — bought a sculpture for $300. This marked the beginning of a lifelong shared passion for collecting art, resulting in one of the most important art collections in the USA, of over 4,500 works. 

Herb and Dorothy Vogel went on to give away most of it to the National Gallery of Art, and today these artworks inspire visitors in museums across their country. Imagine that! An extraordinary legacy for future generations, built bit by bit, by two people who couldn’t be farther from the stereotypical image of an art collector.

Start with why 

People are drawn to art for a variety of reasons: some view art primarily as a financial investment, others want to support dying art forms or emerging artists, and yet others buy art for its emotional appeal. As someone who belongs in the last set, I love the fact that the Vogels only bought art that resonated with them personally.

Ultimately, the purpose of art is to nourish and elevate the human spirit, and at Baro Art we believe the best reasons to buy art are to stimulate the mind, add beauty to spaces, and enhance how you experience these spaces. In our book, that’s a pretty solid return on investment. Before you embark on your art collection journey, ask yourself why you want to do it: what is it that draws you to art, what do you want it to do for you, and how would you define a good return on your art investment?

Discover what you like

The world of art is vast, diverse, and incredibly exciting. It can seem intimidating, not least because too often art is presented as the purview of a select few that have some mysterious, special knowledge. We at Baro Art see these barriers as unnecessary and misguided; art is for everybody, and if you can think and feel, there’s no reason why you cannot enjoy art.  That said, we may each be drawn to different kinds of art, and as an aspiring collector, it’s good to know which kind speaks to you.

The best way to find out is by looking at a lot of art: visit art shows, galleries and museums, attend talks, read up on artists and work you instinctively like. You don’t need to know every detail to be able to enjoy an artwork, but the more you know, the more you will get out of it. Like other things steeped in historical and cultural context, your preferences in art will evolve as you learn and think more about it. As you engage more with art, you may also find your palate for it expanding. Don’t fall into the trap of classifying art as highbrow versus lowbrow, or important versus insignificant; good art is art that moves you, so ignore the labels, and embrace as much of it as you can!. 

On the other hand, if you find your interest deepening in one area, that’s fine too, and a useful indicator of where you should put your money. Just don’t stop looking at everything else, because the art space is constantly evolving, and you never know what treasures you might miss!

Don’t sweat the small stuff 

The trickiest part for many of us is knowing when to make the transition from liking a work of art to buying it: you can afford to pay for it, but should you buy it? Between two works of art you like, which one should you choose to buy? Sometimes the decision is guided by practical constraints.

 For instance, Herb and Dorothy Vogel only bought works that were inexpensively priced, that they could take home in a taxi or on the subway, and that they could fit into their compact one-bedroom apartment. As valid as pragmatic considerations are, we frequently find people weighed down by concerns such as: will it work with the colour scheme of the room?. Will this folk art form go with my modern furniture? Contemporary work lives on a wall filled with traditional art.

The answer to these questions is usually a resounding yes; uniformity is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for beauty, and we have innumerable examples of spaces that combine diverse art to exquisite effect. So keep an open mind, and don’t let the limits of other people’s imagination restrict the scope of your collection.

Stepping back from the nuts and bolts of it, we recommend buyers ask themselves how likely it is that their love for a particular work will stand the test of time; there’s no easy formula to get to the answer, but with practice, my instincts for recognising it have certainly improved, as will yours.  Some works endure because they are complex and layered with meaning, others because they are direct and powerful. In both cases, it is the artwork’s capacity to remain relevant over time that transforms its purchase from an expense to an investment.

Getting started 

We are seeing new contemporary artists emerge, traditional art forms being revived, and new types of art being explored that blend the old with the new. The financial value of Indian art promises to grow too, as it receives more global attention than ever before, and attracts new categories of buyers within the country. So, whatever your reason for building an art collection, this is a very exciting time to get started.

As an aspiring collector with a finite budget, you should pay particular attention to affordable artworks by upcoming artists, even the occasional smaller work by big-name artists. 

Ruchi Bakshi Sharma’s incredible lenticular prints and engraved mirrors, Jit Chowdhury’s unique shola and indigo expressions of Calcutta, Venkat Shyam’s evolved take on Gond art, Sanjay Chitara’s exquisite mata ni pachedis, Banoo Batliboi’s extraordinary photos of book sculptures, Kaushal Parikh’s vibrant oils and mixed media, Zainab Tambawalla’s watercolours on urban life, Laltu and Tagar Chitrakar’s  Das, and so many more.

Keep an eye out for art shows in your city, and look at online and offline galleries; Baro Art does shows across India, and we have an extensive collection on our website. Don’t hesitate to ask questions, or make repeat visits to view the work again before you decide. Make sure you are getting original works, that come with a certificate of authenticity, and documents of provenance where relevant. And always put quality above quantity; a smaller collection of works you truly love is a better bet than a bigger number of average works, every time. A starting budget of a few lakhs may not buy you a large collection of India’s best-known artists, but if used thoughtfully, it can not only elevate your home space but also create a financial asset for the future.

And who knows, someday your collection might become as legendary as the Vogels’!.

This has been adapted for the web from an article published in Manifest’s December 2024-January 2025 issue that is now on stands. For more stories like this, subscribe here!