Triveda

Company profile

Triveda Fine Arts Pvt. Ltd. is an art auction house that seeks to showcase the best of Indian Fine Art established by noted stalwart art collector Nina Pillai. Triveda Fine Arts unifies the creative and cultural vision of its founders with the aid of professionals, expert consultants, to offer the most sought after pieces from India's foremost artistic talent. In a recent article in the India Today entitled ‘The Art of Investment’ they comment on how a wise investment in Indian Art can be among the most lucrative in returns. With the masters of painting at an age that increasingly compromises their technical ability one is curious to put their finger on the pulse of the market to tap in to new and exciting directions issuing forth and Triveda Fine Arts will provide the savvy investor a variegated tableaux of the burgeoning talent that will guarantee growth in your investment at this exciting time for Indian Fine Art. We function as a traditional auction house and organize bodies of work that comprise of some of the most precious and rare works, veritable pieces of the history of Indian Art. Other works are pieces which either have a unique novelty value or those of promising artists that are every day making their mark more pronounced. In the gallery space we try to shy away from the formula adopted by many of our piers who encourage their artists to bring Indian themes and motifs in to a mould that reflect various international contemporary aesthetic frames of reference. Our curatorial stance is that artists we involve in our fold would inevitably draw from the West where these art practices initially evolved, but to simultaneously engage in the process of defining their own contemporary idiom within the context of their local milieu. Excellence in the field of visual representation is what we strive for to bring to the fore the talent that would otherwise go unrecognized and we invite you to join us in this vibrant and dynamic process.

Krishna Rajan Pillai

Director, Triveda Fine Arts Pvt. Ltd.,

Triveda Fine Arts was set up by art collector Nina Pillai, who has been a collector for more than 3 decades.

Triveda held its first auction on November 2006, when it notched up sales of Rs 7 crores and sold 62 of the 131 creations that came under the hammer. Pillai spoke at length about India’s booming art scene. “Indian art is bursting at the seams and we’re taking this opportunity to promote young artists who need a platform to showcase their work.”

Paintings by artists like Jamini Roy, Gaganendranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose and Francis Newton Souza were some of the famous works on sale. There was also Jagdish Swaminathan’s much talked about Bird and Mountain series, Anjolie Ela Menon’s Waiting at the Window, MF Husain’s Horse, Year of the Horse, Gandhi and Bengali Girl were just some of the works.

Works of V.S. Gaitonde, S.H. Raza, M.F. Husain and Anjolie Ela Menon figured prominently in auction house Triveda Fine Arts Pvt Ltd’s second sale of Modern Indian Contemporary Art in Delhi on April 13, 2007.

‘The auction will present works that have attractive reserves and vintage value,’ said Nina Pillai, chairperson and the sole owner of Triveda. Incidentally, she is India’s first woman auction house owner.

The sale of 108 Lots included paintings, sculptures, a book and a set of lithographs. Triveda Fine Arts Pvt Ltd’s third auction of Indian old and contemporary art was held on Feb 27, 2009. It was aimed at collecting funds for poor children’s education; it included masters as well as works from an art camp held in Jaipur with the Bhoruka Charitable Trust. The 100 odd lots had a few rare works, including a Kishengarh miniature of Radha.

Triveda has also in the past had a series of art shows. The latest however, was Aslam Shaikh’s Sacred Made Real curated by Nina Pillai herself. In his 20 acrylic laden, 12 feet canvases, Shaikh tried to entice viewers through various performing art traditions of Kerala — Pulikali, Kathakali, Theyyam, Mohiniattam and Koodiyattam. The repertoire went on to include temples, village womenfolk and gods and goddesses.

The exhibition opened only for a day at The Oberoi on August 19 2010 and sold out in a few hours. The opening itself, was a spectacular event with chenda players, Kathakali dancers and guests wearing traditional mundus, gold-bordered saris and angavastrams. Dr.Karan Singh who inaugurated was brilliant in his evocative address.

Nina Rajan Pillai is a patron of the arts and has a certain flair for making waves in the world of art. Her son Krishna Rajan Pillai also a Director with Triveda also curates and writes. Aslam Shaikh is Nina’s discovery, and his works are bound to be the cynosure of all eyes.

Uma Nair
Art Critic, Economic Times

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