Art of India

India art holds a very unique place in the panorama of art that is displayed the world over. This is primarily due to the indigenousness and diversity that the art of India displays. Indian art is a strong reflection of the life of the Indian people, its culture and traditional values. This is clearly depicted in most of the artistic representations of India.

So much so that, no other medium singularly represents the Indian lifestyle in as much vivid-ness as does the Indian visual art. There are so many interesting manifestations of the art in India ranging from the elegant form of nataraja to the vibrant Rajasthani miniatures; also present are the diversified images of Buddha, and the iconography of the gods and goddesses. Most of the Indian art has been essentially made of perishable material and has not survived. But what has definitely survived is the religious art, which has been depicted in stone. The Buddhist and Hindu art, both hold symbolism in high regard and this can be seen in the many levels of meaning that the symbolism in gesture, posture, and attribute contain

Very little of the glorious India art and artistic achievement has survived the rule of the British. In order to produce art that appealed to the Western buyers the Indian artists adapted Western techniques and produced gouache paintings. But one source of reviving Indian themes was the Patua scrolls which contained the swiftly executed watercolor illustrations of many subjects >India art was pervaded with a strong and growing nationalist sentiment in the early 20s along with the conscious assimilation of Western styles. Some of the most promiment contemporary artists of the India art include Rabanindranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose, Jamini Roy, Amrita Sher Gil, N. S. Bendre, M. B. Samant, Francis Souza, Bhagwan Kapoor, M. F. Husain, Bhupen Khakhar, Ram Kinker, Dhanraj Bhagat, Amar Nath Seghal, Chintamoni Kar, and Amina Ahmad

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