Indian Miniature Painting


Book Description

This book journeys through the development and decline of the schools of Indian miniature painting. The represented masterpieces bear testimony to the genius of the painters. Of special interest is the context, portrayed through contemporary literature and chronicles that throw light on the lives of these master artists.







Indian Miniature Paintings


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Painted Delight


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The Materials and Techniques of Medieval Painting


Book Description

Medieval painters built up a tremendous range of technical resources for obtaining brilliance and permanence. In this volume, an internationally known authority on medieval paint technology describes these often jealously guarded recipes, lists of materials, and processes. Based upon years of study of medieval manuscripts and enlarged by laboratory analysis of medieval paintings, this book discusses carriers and grounds, binding media, pigments, coloring materials, and metals used in painting. It describes the surfaces that the medieval artist painted upon, detailing their preparation. It analyzes binding media, discussing relative merits of glair versus gums, oil glazes, and other matters. It tells how the masters obtained their colors, how they processed them, and how they applied them. It tells how metals were prepared for use in painting, how gold powders and leaf were laid on, and dozens of other techniques. Simply written, easy to read, this book will be invaluable to art historians, students of medieval painting and civilization, and historians of culture. Although it contains few fully developed recipes, it will interest any practicing artist with its discussion of methods of brightening colors and assuring permanence. "A rich feast," The Times (London). "Enables the connoisseur, artist, and collector to obtain the distilled essence of Thompson's researches in an easily read and simple form," Nature (London). "A mine of technical information for the artist," Saturday Review of Literature.




Four Centuries of Rajput Painting


Book Description

This remarkable catalogue represents one of the richest-known repertoires of Indian painting, as it documents almost all the schools of painting in India, and in particular those of the Rajput courts. The most significant miniatures come from the courts of the three main dynasties of Rajasthan, those of the Sisodia, Rathore, and Kachwaha clans. The collection also contains important examples of Mughal and Deccan painting, a group of thirty-six Pahari pictures and paintings from Central India. The volume presents, through stunning images, a lavish selection of pictorial illustrations of sacred and literary texts, documenting the stylistic features and choices of theme of various cultural and religious areas of India between the sixteenth and eighteenth-centuries. But it also provides important information on the painters, customs, and cultural interests of the different royal courts and on the types of text illustrated. It's an invaluable aid for anyone who wishes to get to know and understand the multifaceted art of the Indian subcontinent.







Indian Miniature Painting


Book Description

"This book traces the development of Indian miniature painting from the Bagh caves to the Sikh school. Progressing chronologically, the author analyses the works of each school or rather the centre where various trends in art would either be transformed or gain prominence, or disappear depending upon the prevalent style. The miniatures often provide true records of the social and cultural life of the time. Working even in conventional forms, the Indian miniaturists have captured the spirit and mood of the subject matter in minutest details--the romance and passion of lovers, the frolics of Radha and Krishna, the royal splendour of the princes, the valor and courage on the battlefields, etc. The eighty beautiful miniatures reproduced, sixty-two of them in colour, show the originality of their subject matter, their vibrant colours and refined treatment of details."--book jacket.




Indian Court Painting, 16th-19th Century


Book Description

A catalogue to accompany an exhibit held at the museum from March to July 1997. Color reproductions of 83 paintings are presented chronologically rather than in the usual separate sections on Mughal, Deccani, Rijput, and Pahari traditions. Kossak, associate curator of Asian art at the museum, offers an introductory essay. Distributed in the US by Harry N. Abrams. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR




Court & Courtship


Book Description

Features in-depth commentary on 90 superb paintings by the eminent art historian J.P. Losty - Many of the paintings offer fascinating insights into Indian attire and fabrics, as they were acquired for the textiles and costumes they illustrate - Showcasing a curated selection of Indian miniature paintings, this book is a feast for the eye for lovers of Indian painting Court & Courtship: Indian Miniatures in the TAPI Collection is a study of Indian paintings in which the author J.P. Losty explores the well-trod highways and the lesser-known byways of miniature paintings, put together by the well-known textile collectors, Praful and Shilpa Shah. Starting with a splendid 16th-century painting from the early Rajput Bhagvata Purana, readers will savor the variety of Mughal and other portraits of emperors, princes, courtiers, and of royal elephants and horses. Courtly pictures include several from the Deccan, Rajasthan, Central India, and the northern hills. Resplendent ladies in 18th and 19th-century attire adorn the pages, as do paintings acquired for the textiles and costumes they illustrate - jamas, paijamas, angarkhas, turbans, odhnis, patkas, canopies, and qanats. Representing the classic texts of Sanskrit and Hindi literature are stunning examples from a 17th-century ragamala, the Shangri Ramayana, the Gita Govinda, Harivamsha, and Rasikapriya. Two of the most impressive paintings ever to come out of Nathdwara are featured here, from the hands of master artists Sukhdev Gaur and Ghasiram Sharma. Showcasing 90 superb images, this collection is sure to be of interest to lovers of Indian art.