From Library Journal
Art is a living tradition in India, yet there has been scant international attention paid to work from the 20th century. To help remedy the problem, Tuli, founder of the Tuli Foundation for Holistic Education in Art (HEART), has produced the first in a series of publications geared toward broadening understanding in the West. As a survey, it is both monumental and comprehensive. Tuli details Indian art history, beginning with the Bengal School and moving through Indian Modernism up to the present. He also captures the essence of a uniquely Indian aesthetic that harmonizes past with present?something that is not easy to do. Of the more than 100 artists featured, nearly all are illustrated, and many are interviewed. Tuli's concise yet clear writing and nonlinear approach well suit the scope of the subject. Though it is expensive, this volume presents artists most of us have never seen but should. Recommended for academic, art school, and large public libraries.?Susan M. Olcott, Columbus Metropolitan Lib., OH
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Booklist
Few outsiders imagine contemporary art in India, picturing instead the classic sculptures and miniatures of centuries past. But there has long been a vital modern arts community at work in this vast and variegated land, and their works will capture the attention and appreciation of Westerners just as surely as the recent blooming of Indian literature enthralled non-Indian readers. Tuli himself is an outsider looking in at the realm of visual art by virtue of the fact that he lived as many years in England as in India and studied not art but economics and development theory at Oxford University. This foundation makes for less-than-graceful commentary as Tuli employs a welter of abstractions in limning a historical and aesthetic context for his discussion of contemporary art, but once readers become acclimated to his gnarled prose, they will recognize the great wealth of information he provides. Happily, nearly a third of the text consists of interviews with artists, and the color plates are nothing less than extraordinary, documenting nearly 100 years of Indian painting in nearly as many styles. Donna Seaman
