About
To research, preserve, exhibit and promote modern and historical Indian art, creating a sustainable market for Indian artists and building public appreciation for India's visual art heritage.
India's largest commercial gallery for modern and historical Indian art. Delhi, Mumbai and New York. Progressive Artists Group, Bengal School. Major publisher of Indian art scholarship.
DAG was established in 1993 in Delhi and grew under Ashish Anand's leadership into an institution combining commercial gallery functions with the scholarly ambitions of a museum. Its expertise in the Progressive Artists Group, whose members Souza, Raza and Husain are among the most valuable Indian artists at international auction, has shaped both the commercial market and critical understanding of this period. The New York space, opened in 2019, extended DAG's reach to the international auction market and the South Asian diaspora collector base.
Founding & Leadership
Ashish Anand joined DAG in 1996 as a self-taught entrepreneur and has since built what is widely regarded as India's largest art company. Named 'Collector of the Year' by India Today in 2017, he is recognised internationally as an authority on Indian art. He has led DAG's expansion into Mumbai and New York, its partnerships with national cultural institutions, and its recent moves into museum management and single-artist heritage preservation projects.
Initiatives & Portfolio
Ongoing exhibition programme presenting modern and historical Indian art across three gallery spaces, combining commercial presentation with scholarly context.
Major publisher of Indian art scholarship including catalogue raisonne projects and monographs for V.S. Gaitonde, S.H. Raza, Ram Kumar and the Progressive Artists Group.
Partnerships with international museums to present Indian modern art in institutional contexts.
DAG has created the scholarly and market infrastructure that has allowed India's modern art heritage to be recognised at international auction and institutional levels. Without the scholarly validation DAG's publications have provided, the market for Indian modern art would be significantly less developed.
[Atlas Perspective] DAG is simultaneously a commercial enterprise and a cultural institution of genuine scholarly importance. Its publication programme has produced scholarship on Indian modern art that is not available from any other source. This combination is rare in the Indian context and deserves recognition.
DAG's cultural contribution is specific: modern and historical Indian visual art. It is not a funder of the broader cultural sector. Cultural organisations in contemporary or folk visual arts will find DAG's model instructive but should not expect its interests to extend beyond its specific domain.