CONTEMPORARY ART IN INDIA

A quintessential work that unfolds the origin and development of contemporary Indian art. Covering the last 150 years, the book focuses on the different artistic and stylistic genres and art movements which have enriched the Indian art scenario over the year. With nearly 300 colour and black and white visuals, along with valuable analysis and information, the book stands apart from other publication on the subject. Critics, students, lay readers and connoisseurs of art will find it extremely helpful.

About the Author:

Prof. Pran Nath Mago (b.1923), an eminent artist, educationist and art critic, was a Founder Member of the Delhi Silpi Chakra. He has had varied experience -as a Professor in Fine Art, College of Art, New Delhi; Advisor to the Govt. of Malta on setting up an Art and Crafts School; and Director, Design Development Centre, All India handicrafts Board, New Delhi. His works, exhibited in India and abroad since 1946, were critically acclaimed and are in prestigious national and private collections. He has been the recipient of a Food Foundation Grant, has been honoured as Eminent Artist by the Punjab Art Heritage and has been awarded an Emeritus fellowship by the Department of Culture, Govt of India. He has traveled extensively and delivered lectures in reputed universities and museums, in India and abroad. He has curated some important exhibitions for the Lalit Kala Akademi, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, British Council, New Delhi and The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts. He has also written monographs on Amar Nath Sehgal and Gurcharan Singh, published by the Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi.

1. The Essence of Art
   What is Art?; The Artist and his Audience; Fine Arts; Applied Arts and Crafts; The Indian Tradition
2. The Contemporary or Modern in Art Defining the Terms; Contemporary Art in the Present Century; World-wide Impact
3. The Indian Background
   Raja Ravi Varma; Abanindranath Tagore; Gaganendranath Tagor; Rabindranath Tagore; Nandalal Bose; Jamini Roy; Amrita Sher-Gil; A.R. Chugatai; Zainul Abedin; George Keyt
4. Pre-Independence Art Trends
   Gladstone Solomon and the Development in Bombay; Charls Gerrard and the Promotion of Innovative Techniques in Bombay; Developments in Calcutta; Developments in Madras; Developments in Lahore; Development in Lucknow; The Changing Attitude -reaction of Artists to the Socio- political Events
5. Bengal School and the Progressive Artists Groups
   Progressive Artists Group -A Movement against the Bengal School; The Calcutta Group; Bombay Progressive Artists Group Bombay Group; Delhi Silpi Chakra; The Changing Scene in Madras and Cholamandal; Progressive Artists' Association, Srignar (Kashmir); Group 1890
6. Continuing Impact of Modern Art
   New Educational and Promotional Art Institutions; Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S. University, Baroda; National Gallery of Modern Art and Lalit Kala Akademi; The 1950 and after
7. Explorations in Folk Arts
   Exploration in folk art for identity; Folk art and modernity
8. The Indian Art Scene in the 1980s
   Trends in abstraction or non figurative styles; the yantric or the geometric revealing tantra and trends for the fantastic
9. Summary Notes on Arts and Integration of Arts and Crafts
   Contemporary sculpture in India; Installation as a form of Art: Print-making in India; Landscape Painting; Integration of Art and Craft; Pottery; Handweaving
10. Some Consequential Contemporary Artist of India
    Painters: B.C. Sanyal; Binode Behari Mukherjee; Sailoz; Mookherjea; N.S. Bender; K.K. Hebbar; M.F. Husain; Bimal Das Gupta; K.S. Kulkarni; Harkrishan Lall; Jehangir Sabavala; Pran Nath Mago; F.N. Souza; Ram Kumar; K.G Subramanyan; Krishen Khanna; Tyeb Mehta; Birende; Satish Gujral; Jagdish Swaminathan; G.R. Santosh; Bishamber Khanna; Shanti Dave; Om Prakash; A Ramachandran; Arpita Singh; Gulam Mohammad Sheikh; Anjolie Ela Menon; Jatin Das; Manjit Bawa; Vivan Sundaram; Gogi Saroj Apl; Jai Zhrotia; Arpana Caur;
    Sculptors: Ramkinkar Vaij; Sankho Chaudhuri; Dhan Raj Bhagat; Somnath Hore; Amar Anth Sehgal; Lydia Mehta; Meera Mukherjee; P.V. Janakiram; Ved Nayar; Mrinalini Mukherjee; Ratnabali Kant
    Printmakers:Krishna Reddy; Surindra Chadha; Anupam Sud
11. The Arts Today
    The Use of Distortion; Distortion: Systematic and Arbitrary; The Gesture in Painting; Computer-The Artist's New Tool; Promotion of Contemporary Art; The Growing Art Market; Professional Art Education; Art in Education; Modern Art -A Problem of Communication
    Conclusion
    Bibliography
    Index