ARCHER started its journey as a small atelier in Ahmedabad in 1978. The studio was founded by Anil Relia, a Fine Arts Major in Applied Arts, Serigraphy and Photography from the M. S. University, Baroda. Under his guidance, Archer has flourished and has been involved in screen printing activities for a number of renowned designers and companies. Anil Relia has also come out with his own serigraphs and exhibited them in Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Delhi.
His passion for art has allowed him to enjoy homely relations and art discussions with artists like M. F. Husain, Jogen Chowdhury, Bhupen Khakhar, Amit Ambalal and Manu & Madhvi Parekh to name a few. Aware of his background in screen printing and an inclination towards fine art prints, it was M. F. Husain who motivated him to venture into the publication of limited edition serigraphs in collaboration with contemporary artists. Hence with the vision of enhancing the Indian art market and giving the best to art connoisseurs, Archer initiated the printing of Limited Edition Graphics from 1994.
Since then, Archer has worked to bring out the finest works on both artistic and technical levels, completing numerous editions for some of the most popular and in demand artists of the day including M. F. Husain, S. H. Raza, Jogen Chowdhury, Manjit Bawa, Manu Parekh, Madhvi Parekh, Thota Vaikuntam, Amit Ambalal, Jyoti Bhatt and many more. This in turn has played an important role in the advancement of the Indian art scene and thus, popularizing the demand for fine art prints to a new segment of art collectors who could enjoy the works of various artists at an affordable price. With the help of technology, we have come out with the largest serigraph ever done in India - Husain’s Mother Teresa, which was launched at Paris in the year 2004.
All the limited edition graphics executed by Archer are carefully examined and signed by the respective artists, making it a collectable piece of art. The materials used in producing a limited edition print are of archival quality. This is done to preserve the life of the print and to prevent discoloration. These genuine works of art fashioned by Archer come along with a certificate of authenticity.
Over the past 40 years, Archer has received a plethora of awards due to its commitment towards quality.
In 2010, Manan Relia took over the art gallery business and brought it to another level. A computer science graduate from Purdue University, USA, Manan has used his technical background to take the online art gallery to a whole new level. Archer Art Gallery is one of the top most online art galleries in the country and has a large base of art collectors and buyers from all over the world. After his joining, Archer has added several other artists and their works to its ever growing catalogue of artworks. Several art exhibitions of reputed as well as young & promising artists have also been held. Archer Art Gallery has participated in many art fairs including almost all editions of India Art Fair, New Delhi.
Archer moved to a larger, two storied space of about 17,000 sq ft in August 2018, with an exhibition space of about 6,000 sq ft, in addition to the space for their existing collection of over 5000 artworks. Archer regularly holds exhibitions of popular, modern and contemporary artists at the newly built gallery space.