Vivan Sundaram

Vivan Sundaram (1943–2023) was an Indian artist working across painting, installation, and photography. His practice engaged with history, politics, and memory, and he was a significant figure in contemporary Indian art.

If you have a work attributed to Vivan Sundaram, contact: india@privatkunst.ch

Privatkunst.ch grew from a personal interest in works that carry a history. There is always more behind a work of art than first appears — and most stories are not yet fully told.

Many objects in private hands were never properly assessed — because no one with the right knowledge looked at them. That has changed. Open research archives, digitised auction catalogues, and image analysis now make it possible to understand a work in new ways and with a depth of information that simply did not exist before. A work rarely stands alone. And it carries its history within it — if you know how to read it.

If you are interested in how archives, reference sources and new technologies are contributing to the assessment of art, see the article here → — currently only in German.

For an overview of Indian art — modern, contemporary, and the recognition women artists are finally receiving — read here →