B. N. Goswamy

Through close encounters with over a hundred carefully selected works, spanning nearly a thousand years, and ranging from Jain manuscripts and Pahari and Mughal miniatures to Company School paintings, B. N. Goswamy unlocks the many treasures that lie within Indian painting. In an illuminating introduction, and as Goswamy relates the stories behind each work and deciphers the visual vocabulary and language of the painters, he brings to life the cultural, social, and political milieu in which they were created. Lavishly illustrated, and combining erudition with great storytelling, The Spirit of Indian Painting reveals the beauty of this richly varied body of work in a new and brilliant light.

Close Encounters With 101 Great Works 1100-1900

The Spirit of Indian Painting

Three things come together in the series of paintings depicted in this book: a great text, a delectable old romance, and the work of one of the most talented families of painters. The text is the 12th century Naishadhacharita of Sriharsha, one of the last great kavyas of Sanskrit literature; the story, told with the utmost delicacy, centres around the intense love that grew - mutual sights heard of, but yet unseen - between King Nala and Princess Damayanti. The painter family that produced this exquisitely painted series came from the small principality of Guler in the "Pahari" hills: today's Himachal Pradesh. The intent of the painter/s was to cover the story in close to 110 paintings, but only 47 paintings could be completed all of them now in the collection of the Amar Mahal Museum and Library at Jammu, and here published the remaining having survived only in the form of highly finished drawings. Contents: Foreword; List of Plates and List of Figures; Pahari Paintings of the Nala-Damayanti Theme: An Essay; Colour Plates with Notes; Sanskrit Text of Chitrarthadipika with Translation; Appendix I: Preliminary Sanguine Drawings of the Nala-Damayanti Series; Appendix II: Select Word List with Diacritics; Select Bibliography; Acknowledgements; Index.

A Great Series of Paintings of an Old Indian Romance

Nala and Damayanti

Ainslie Thomas Embree

Vishakha N. Desai

This book deals with the secular tradition in India. It brings together courtly pictures with nonsectarian, nonliterary themes (hunts, harems, entertainment, and royal gatherings) made for the Hindu, Muslim, and British rulers of India. This exhibition takes place during the "Festival of India," a nationwide celebration of Indian culture in the United States.--From the foreword.

Art for India's Rulers, 16th-19th Centuries

Life at Court

On the life and works of Pandit Nainsukh, d. 1778, Indian painter; includes reproduction of his paintings.

A Great Indian Painter from a Small Hill-state

Nainsukh of Guler

Eberhard Fischer

Pahari painting has long been acknowledged as one of the great achievements of India in the realm of art. The Pahari painter, however, has always been relegated to an indeterminate, anonymous background, seen mostly as a craftsman following pre-determined patterns. This book recovers these artists. Presented here is neither merely a history of Pahari painting nor yet another study of the art of the northern hill states, but a search for the makers of the images. The authors have chosen from the best work of fourteen Pahari masters, spanning three hundred years, from as many as twenty museums and private collections across the world. They have gathered as many facts as possible in an effort to bring the artists into sharper focus. From the vast number of paintings available, those included have been carefully selected in an effort to illuminate the range of each master's work and the processes of thought that may have been behind their art.

Court Painters of Northern India

Pahari Masters

Thomas Daniell was thirty-six years old when he and his nephew William, barely sixteen, sailed out from Gravesend in April 1785, headed for the East. They arrived in Calcutta via China the next year. This book presents a selection of their work in India, bringing alive the scenery and architecture of that age. Thomas Daniell was thirty-six years old when he and his nephew William, barely sixteen, sailed out from Gravesend in April 1785, headed for the East. They arrived in Calcutta via China the next year. The Daniells travelled across India, painting Oriental Scenery wherever they

Views from the Eighteenth Century

Daniells' India

Milo Cleveland Beach

Masters of Indian Painting (2-volume set) is the most comprehensive survey of Indian painting that the West has ever seen. Spanning 800 years and including some 600 artworks by more than 40 artists, it dispels the notion of anonymity in Indian art. The volumes are structured chronologically, differing from the traditional classification according to regional styles or dynastic periods.

B. N. Goswamy

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