New Delhi : It is art for the masses with an exclusive tag. Veteran Paris-based contemporary artist Sakti Burman has touched base with young art lovers in the country with 24 limited edition signed copies of his works. The serigraphs - life like coloured prints of his most complex and expensive canvases - are a "gift to his fans on his 75th birthday".

The cache, "The Complete Collection", was thrown open to buyers at the Sreedharani Gallery at the Triveni Kala Sangam here on March 1. "The collection flaunts some of Burman's signature metaphysical works like 'Legends of Hope', 'Sadhu Singing', 'Shiva Parvati', 'Happy as a Bird' and 'Ganapathy Offering Flowers'. It is a gift to his fans on his 75th birthday," Sharan Apparao, owner of the Chennai-based Apparao Gallery, who presented the collection in the capital, told the media. The artist turned 75 on Feb 8.

Apparao said the "idea behind the show was to explore a new medium and to make high-end art affordable". "Reproductions of Burman's works, which originally cost Rs.36 lakh, are on sale for just Rs.45,000," Apparao said. The sale price per portfolio of the collection, which includes all the 24 serigraphs, is Rs.900,000, while per piece costs Rs.30,000 and Rs.45,000.

According to Apparao, "all the 24 serigraphs are in a limited edition of 125 prints with 'certificate of authentication' listing the details of the works and 'certificate of assurance' from the artist confirming that no other signed prints of the same images will be made. "Each serigraph is numbered, titled and signed by the artist so that it becomes an individual piece," Apparao said. The gallerist collaborated with the Dubai-based Serigraph Studio for the collection.

The serigraphic fine art print, says contemporary art printmaker Lavesh Jagasia, owner of the Serigraph Studio in Dubai, "are produced using the screen method". "The coloured inks are applied layer by layer in plates just like the artist applies his ink to get the exact oil and water colour finish. Serigraphs, like many other digital fine art prints, have become state-of-the art," Jagasia told the media. The word serigraph, Jagasia said, literally means to draw on silk.

"Seri in Latin means silk and graphics in Greek is to draw. It was coined by Carl Zigrossen, an eminent curator of prints of the Philadelphia Museum of Fine Arts to distinguish fine art screen prints from the commercial industrial prints. It dates back to ancient China and to 14th century Europe," he said.