Gift wrap this painting, please

On January 7 the doorbell at Kunal Bijlanirsquos Khar apartment rang at 6 pm His 35 yearold wife Harshna opened the door and in walked Avinash Motghare a citybased artist carrying 10 canvases of his latest works ldquoAt first I didnrsquot understand what was happening and then Kunal whispered into my ears lsquochoose whichever you like Itrsquos your birthday presentrsquordquo recalls Harshna a dermatologist who stopped painting when she started studying medicine 10 years agou00a0 Clark House gallery owner and curator Sumesh Sharma sitting discusses a painting by Avinash Motghare with Kunal Bijlani who gifted the painting to his wife on her birthday in January PicsBipin Kokate Harshna selected an embossed and etched oil painting which had a bright red and orange goldfish and a 3D fork and knife ldquoWe love to eat fish and this painting is symbolic in many waysrdquo says Harshna That was just her favourite mdash the couple bought two more works by the 29 yearold oil painter that day all worth a cool Rs 80000 in totalu00a0Like Bijlani many other Mumbaiites have begun looking at art as the ideal gift for close friends and family The 36 yearold who is the country head for a UKbased property management firm says he didnrsquot want to buy the usual suspects ldquoGifts like jewellery watches and perfumes have been done to death The surprise on Harshnarsquos face was superb And getting the artist home to explain his works and guiding Harshna on taking a decision was an experience in itselfrdquo he recalls In December 2011 he had bought a painting for his sister when she got her masters in set design and was moving into her own apartment in New York ldquoI gifted her an artwork by Sachin Bonde which cost around Rs 20000rdquo he says Bijlani had to fight strong resistance from his father who was convinced that his son was wasting his money over art ldquoHe told me to gift something my sister would use but I knew she would appreciate this for the rest of her life Irsquom glad I made that choicerdquo he smiles Art gets respect Gallerists and art lovers are welcoming this trend with open arms Kalpana Shah owner of Tao Art Gallery Worli is delighted to see people finally accepting the uniqueness of art ldquoWhen you gift art to somebody for a special occasion you gift them a happy memory for life Like gold and silver art is reaching out to the masses and gaining respectWhat better way to leave a lasting impression than through artrdquo says the gallerist who recently concluded Small is Beautiful which exhibited miniature works by renowned artists The exhibition was designed to help more people to buy and appreciate art u00a0Fiftysix yearold Chetan Shah has no knowledge of art but likes to look at paintings at his friend Kalpanarsquos gallery ldquoThis year our family celebrated two happy occasions My son moved into his new house and my daughter delivered a baby I gifted them paintings to mark both occasions My daughterinlaw was moved when she saw the painting And I was convinced that she would cherish the Raza print for years to come To my daughter I gifted her painting by Kalpanardquo says the businessman from Tardeo who spent around Rs 2 lakh each on the paintings Growing trend That doesnrsquot mean people are rushing out to shop for paintings and gift wrap them however ldquoItrsquos still nascentrdquo concedes Shivaji Parkbased watercolourist Prashant Prabhu ldquoEarlier it was restricted to collectors as art is the utmost form of luxury People buy art after they have spent money on all other necessities and luxuries It requires a certain kind of sensibility to buy art instead of other things People always have a budget when they are buying a gift and this means gifting an artwork is still a rare phenomenonrdquo he explains Artist Sachin Bonde R discusses his work with Kunal Bijlani who gifted one of his works to his sister last December Forty yearold S Soma Shekhar who is fond of Prabhursquos series of Ladakh paintings bought one for his Chennaibased sister on her graduation last year ldquoOne must be very confident about the person they are gifting art to as it is a very subjective field What I may love somebody else may dislike I was sure my sister would like the painting and she did She has hung it in her living room It gives me pleasure that she appreciates what I picked for herrdquo says the lawyer from Prabhadeviu00a0Curator at the Clark House Initiative in Colaba Sumesh Sharma says at least eight buyers have walked in to pick up a present for a dear one in the past year ldquoWhen somebody decides to gift art it is on a personal level rather than investment The buyer has a fair understanding of the person I donrsquot see this trend picking up as an investment The buyers are mostly professionals who are well settled and spend anything between Rs 5000 and 45000 Though I have also seen buyers who have saved money to buy a piece of art they have been meaning to gift someonerdquou00a0