The Book - The field of 21st century Indian Art History archiving, research, methodology, and the propagation of New Art History would be incomplete without the mention of Prof Ratan Parimoo, an octogenarian whose immense contribution is well-respected nationally and internationally – having trained hundreds of arts professionals produced copious tomes and continues to crusade on with his new research. This edited volume of richly illustrated 34 original research papers and essays on Indian art history and critical theory is prepared to honour Prof Ratan Parimoo on the occasion of his 85th birthday by scholars and art professionals who are his colleagues, contemporaries and students. All the expert collaborators of this volume have known him closely and continue to be inspired by his work. The selection of papers is reflective of Prof. Parimoo's own scholarly interest and unprecedented diversity of subjects he has been engaged in writing about from documenting the earliest history of Modern Indian Art Movement in the 1960-70s to critical reappraisal of pioneering scholars such as Coomaraswamy, Stella Kramrisch and the Tagore family, to the study of Indian Painting, Sculpture,Architecture to Indian Aesthetics and Semiotics – the latter being his pioneering effort in opening up the theoretical interpretation of thecontent of Indian art. The present volume arranged chronologically and thematically, begins with an introductory essay and acknowledgment by the volume editors, reminiscences from friends and colleagues including Deborah Swallow, Kenneth Robbins, Deepak Kannal, Jagdish Shivpuri and Naina Dalal. There are four thematic sections in which 34 papers have been placed for contextuality and brevity. This book will appeal to scholars, collectors, researchers, and art enthusiasts as the essays are accessible, annotated, technical terms are phonetically spelt and free of diacritical marks. A quick overview of the thematic sections and the scholarly collaborators' names are listed below: Indian Architecture and Sculpture: R N Misra, M N P Tiwari, Shanti Swaroop Sinha, M A Dhaky, Choodamani Nandagopal, Srinivas Padigar, Madhu Wangu, Rajaram Sharma, Monica Zin, Rajesh Singh Indian Painting and Allied Arts: Jagdish Mittal, Asok Das, B N Goswamy, Devangana Desai, Gulammohammed Sheikh, Kamal Giri, Nuzhat Kazmi, Nalini Balbir, Robert Del Bonta, Rita Sodha, Srinivas Sistla Modern and Contemporary Indian Art: Pratapaditya Pal, Michael Meister, Geeta Kapur, Ajay Sinha, R Shivakumar, Janak Jhankar Narzary, Manisha Patil, Y S Alone, Omprakash, Nita Omprakash, Suresh Jayram. Indian Art Theory: Ranjit Singh Rangila, M Ramachandran, Ranjan Ghosh. As additional bonus, the appendices provide a complete bibliography of Prof Parimoo's writings, an interview about his professionaland personal journey accompanied with historic photographs that brings the reader closer to the scholar as a human being. |
