Trace India’s journey through art. From books on Buddhist painting to anthologies on Modern art, Vogue picks 12 essential tomes
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'The Body in Indian Art and Thought' by Naman P Ahuja (Ludion Editions)
The catalogue of a landmark exhibition in Brussels in 2013, which later travelled to the National museum in Delhi, this book looks at Indian art via the prism of the human body, which was central to ancient and medieval Indian art. Divided into chapters that trace the journey and experiences of the body—Death, Asceticism, Rebirth, Rapture, etc.—the beautifully illustrated text highlights the similarities and divergences of approaches to the human body in rituals across religions and regions.
'The Spirit of Indian Painting' by BN Goswamy (Penguin Random House)
BN Goswamy achieves the impossible in this one-of-a-kind book. One hundred and one masterpieces of Indian miniature painting are chosen from traditions spanning hundreds of years as well as Buddhist, Jain, Mughal manuscript paintings and some from the Company School. This book replicates paintings in their entirety but also enlarges essential details. The text describing the paintings guides us, gently opening our minds to the worlds contained in the delicate images.
'Monuments, Objects and Histories' by Tapati Guha-Thakurta (Columbia University Press)
Guha-Thakurta lays bare the making and functioning of institutions that are the foundations of art history. The making of the disciplines of archaeology and art history and the founding of the earliest museums are explored, with rich archival research that brings to life individuals and sites from the 19th century onwards. This is an essential read to understand the hows and whys of the discovery, classification and study of art.
'Amrita Sher-Gil: A Self- Portrait in Letters and Writings', edited by Vivan Sundaram (Tulika Books)
Amrita Sher-Gil was a prolific letter writer, describing her work, her consciousness and commenting on society and politics in letters to individuals as varied as her family, her friend and critic Karl Khandalavala and, most famously, Jawaharlal Nehru. Her nephew, the artist Vivan sundaram, brings together all her writings and paintings in this heavily annotated two-volume book, an invaluable archive for anyone interested in pre-independence India.
'Alchi: Ladakh’s Hidden Buddhist Sanctuary—Sumtsek' by Roger Goepper, Jaroslav Poncar (Shambhala)
This gorgeously produced large-format book describes the architecture, mud sculptures and paintings of a three- storeyed temple in Alchi, one of the earliest Buddhist monasteries of Ladakh, providing ample evidence of the material culture of that time.
'When Was Modernism' by Geeta Kapur (Tulika Books)
Discussing the works of Ritwik Ghatak, Satyajit Ray, Nasreen Mohamedi and other stalwarts in non-chronological essays, Kapur argues that there were multiple Modernisms that developed in Indian art related to the politics of nationhood and post-colonialism.
'The Sensuous and the Sacred' by Vidya Dehejia (Mapin)
Bronze sculptures made during the Chola dynasty (9th-13th century) are amongst the masterpieces of world art. This illustrated catalogue to a 2002 exhibition at the Arthur M Sackler Gallery in Washington, DC provides insight into the techniques of making these sculptures and their political and cultural roles.
'Art and Visual Culture in India 1857-2007', Edited by Gayatri Sinha (Marg Publications)
From Raja Ravi Varma to the establishment of art schools and museums, the coming of photography and modes of mechanical reproduction to the development of urban artist collectives in the ’40s and ’50s, to the proliferation of new forms of art making, this book serves as an essential textbook to understand the development of art, from the colonial to the postcolonial, globalised India.
'The Art of Ancient India-Buddhist, Hindu, Jain' by Susan Huntington (Motilal Banarsidass)
Arranged chronologically, Susan Huntington details the development of art and architecture according to regions. For those of us who may have thought of art as a standalone activity, this book underlines the role of communities and guilds of artists working in political and cultural contexts. Encyclopedic in its scope, this is Art History 101.
'The Art Critic' by Richard Bartholomew (BART)
Bartholomew’s visionary writing runs parallel to the development of Modern Indian art. His essays, compiled posthumously, paint an intimate picture of the art industry. The 600-page tome includes his rare black-and-white photographs of artists, studios and exhibitions as well.
'Chitrakar: The Artist' by Benodebehari Mukherjee, Translated by KG Subramanyan (Seagull Books)
KG Subramanyan’s translation of the autobiography of Benodebehari Mukherjee details the journey of one of the most important figures of post-independence Indian art. Chitrakar is also a history of pre- and post-independence India, and of its most important art institutions and teachers.
'Lives of Indian Images' by Richard Davis (Motilal Banarsidass)
Davis introduces a biographical approach to understanding objects, tracing their lives from the time of making to their use, and also their changing meanings across time and contexts. He delves into legal battles over precious antiquities, such as a prized Shiva Nataraja bronze, rituals that bring sculptural idols to life, and the economic and political underpinnings of the making, collecting and coveting of images. Davis underlines the relationship between humans and objects that ascribe meaning to art and demonstrates that there is no singular way to ‘read’ an art object.
The writer is associate editor, Marg
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