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by Geeti Sen (Author)
Explores the relationship between Indian contemporary painting and inspiration from medieval miniature painting traditions through the art of five significant Indian modern and contemporary artists.
A miniature painting holds wondrous powers, beyond its defined space. A single image can summon up a world of adventures, enclosed chambers, gardens, rivers, lakes, forests, flowers, and an infinite variety of trees in bloom. In Indian art, miniatures were conceived as sets of narrative illustrations based on classic texts, such as the Ramayana, Bhagavata Purana, Ragamala, etc. Miniature painting continues to hold its appeal well into the 21st century. Contemporary artists of importance have imbibed influences from the miniature traditions, in technique, theme and coloration. This book explores a relationship between Indian contemporary painting and inspiration from medieval miniatures. The author studies the art of five significant Indian modern and contemporary artists--Abanindranath Tagore, Manjit Bawa, Waswo X. Waswo with Rakesh Vijayvargiya, and Nilima Sheikh--who have resourced and reinvented iconic traditions with different perspectives and using different techniques. Accompanied with splendid illustrations, the essays bring attention to the Indian art of today with the magical transformation of older concepts and techniques in miniature painting into contemporary practice.Author Biography
Geeti Sen is a cultural historian, professor, art critic and editor trained at the Universities of Chicago and Calcutta. She is a prominent figure in the Indian cultural world and has been invited to speak in many parts of the world: the United Kingdom, United States of America, Canada, Ireland, France, Spain, Brazil and Russia. Sen was the art critic for The Times of India in Mumbai and the Assistant Editor at Marg, the prestigious art journal from Mumbai. Later, she was the art critic for India Today, New Delhi. From 1990 to 2006, Sen was appointed the Chief Editor at the India International Centre, New Delhi. In 2009, she was selected as the first Director of the Indian Cultural Centre in Kathmandu, Nepal. Sen is the author of several books, including Paintings from the Akbar Nama: A Visual Chronicle of Mughal India (1984), Feminine Fables: Imaging the Indian Woman in Painting, Photography and Cinema (2002), Revelations: Ganesh Pyne (2002), Your History Gets in the Way of My Memory (2012) and Bindu: Space and Time in Raza's Vision (1992, reprint 2020).
