The Navratnas

The Indira Gandhi government declared the nine artists above as Navratnas and deemed their works of art “national treasures” through a legislation passed in 1972.The Antiquities and Art Treasures Act specified that from the date of enactment of the law, the works of these artists — some of whom were active in the Indian independence movement as well — were not to be taken out of the country. Most of the works of these artists today are displayed at government-run art galleries in India while around 3,000 others are in private hands. Because of this legislation, very few of the works of art created by the Navaratnas — only those that had been bought by foreigners before the enactment of the law — could be displayed at galleries or put up for bidding at auctions abroad. This is why names such as Rabindranath Tagore and Nandlal Bose have not got the kind of exposure, particularly over the past three decades, that a Hussain or Mehta commands today. This also meant that while the best works of the younger generation of artists began to command their price in crores, the works of the Navaratnas — the few that have been traded or bid for — sold at a fraction of that. Read more of this post