Description

This vividly illustrated publication features 110 works by many of the most eminent painters in the history of Indian art. These remarkable paintings, dating from 110 to 1900, were selected according to identifiable artists, and they refute the long-held view of anonymous authorship in Indian art.

Traditionally, Indian paintings have been classified by regional styles or dynastic periods, with an emphasis on subject matter. Stressing the combined tools of connoisseurship and inscriptional evidence, the pioneering research reflected in this book has identified 40 individual artists and their oeuvres through the analysis of style.

The introductory essay outlines the origins of early Indian painting of the first millennium, which set the scene for the development of the art of the book. The sections that follow examine manuscript painting— palm-leaf to paper—,the emergence of traditional painting as an independent art form, and its demise with the coming of photography. Biographies of the artists and a glossary of their major literary sources provide valuable context.

John Guy is Florence and Herbert Irving Curator of the Arts of South and Southeast Asia, Department of Asian Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Jorrit Britschgi is Curator of Indian Painting, Museum Rietberg, Zurich.

Additional Information

The book is a companion volume to the exhibition on display at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, from September 2011 to January 2012, prior to which it was at Museum Rietberg.

This book is available in territories other than South Asia through another publisher.

Praise