| Specifications |
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Publisher: Gyan Publishing House, New Delhi |
| Author Ananda K. Coomaraswamy | |
| Language: English | |
| Pages: 157 | |
| Cover: HARDCOVER | |
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9x6 inch |
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Weight 420 gm |
| Edition: 2024 | |
| ISBN: 9789362801227 | |
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HBX768 |
| Delivery and Return Policies |
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Usually ships in 3 days |
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Returns and Exchanges accepted within 7 days |
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Free Delivery |
"Introduction to Indian Art" by Ananda K. Coomaraswamy is a seminal work offering a profound exploration of India's artistic legacy. Coomaraswamy, a renowned art historian, provides a nuanced analysis of various art forms, including sculpture, painting, and architecture, from ancient to contemporary times. Through detailed descriptions and insightful commentary, he illuminates the philosophical, spiritual, and cultural underpinnings of Indian art, elucidating its intricate symbolism and aesthetic principles. With scholarly rigor and eloquence, this book serves as an indispensable resource for anyone interested in delving into the rich tapestry of Indian artistic traditions, offering a deeper understanding of their historical significance and enduring relevance.
Ananda K. Coomaraswamy (1877-1947) was a pioneering figure in the field of Indian art history and philosophy. Born in Sri Lanka and educated in England, he made significant contributions to the understanding and appreciation of Indian art and culture. Coomaraswamy's works delved into various aspects of Indian art, architecture, symbolism, and aesthetics, emphasizing the spiritual and philosophical underpinnings of artistic expression. His writings, which spanned topics such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and traditional craftsmanship, helped bridge the gap between Eastern and Western perspectives on art. Coomaraswamy's profound insights continue to inspire scholars, artists, and enthusiasts worldwide, leaving an enduring legacy in the study of Indian art and philosophy.
'ART in India,' and 'art' in the modern world mean two very different things. In India, it is the statement of a racial experience, and serves the purposes of life, like daily bread. Indian art has always been produced in response to a demand: that kind of idealism which would glorify the artist who pursues a personal ideal of beauty and strives to express himself, and suffers or perishes for lack of patronage, would appear to Indian thought far more ridiculous or pitiable than heroic. The modern world, with its glorification of personality, produces works of genius and works of mediocrity following the peculiarities of in-dividual artists: in India, the virtue or defect of any work is the virtue or defect of the race in that age. The names and peculiarities of individual artists, even if we could recover them, would not enlighten us: nothing depends upon genius or requires the knowledge of an individual psychology for its interpretation. To understand at all, we must understand experiences common to all men of the time and place in which a given work was produced. All Indian art has been produced by professional craftsmen following traditions handed down in pupillary succession. Originality and novelty are never intentional. Changes in form, distinguishing the art of one age from that of another, reflect the necessities of current theology, and not the invention of genius: changes in quality reflect the varying, but not deliberately varied, changes in racial psychology, vitality, and taste. What is new arises constantly in Indian tradition without purpose or calculation on the part of the craftsman, simply because life has remained over long extended periods an immediate experience. Tradition is a living thing, and utterly unlike the copying of styles which has replaced tradition in modern life. No such failure of energy as archaism represents appears in Indian art before the twentieth century.
In India, the same qualities pervade all works of any given period, from pottery to architecture, and all are equally expressive: the smallest fragment of a textile portrays the same as the most elaborate temple.
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