The Big Book of Indian Art: An Illustrated History of Indian Art from Its Origins to the Present Day is the most comprehensive book yet published on modern Indian art. It traces the history of Indian art from its origins to the present day, and features the work of more than 300 Indian artists—painters, sculptors, illustrators, printmakers, multi-media artists, lithographers, and muralists. It is divided into eight sections—‘The Bengal School’, ‘The Bombay School’, ‘The Calcutta Group’, ‘The Progressive Painters’ Association in Chennai and the Cholamandal Artists’ Village’, ‘The Progressive Artists Group of Bombay’, ‘The Baroda Group’, ‘Artistic Footprints: Indian Icons’, and ‘The Art Landscape Post Independence’. Each section deals with a landmark art movement or school of Indian art. ‘The Bengal School’, includes noted artists of the period—among others Rabindranath Tagore, Gaganendranath Tagore, Abanindranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose, and Jamini Roy; ‘The Bombay School’ features the works of artists such as Pestonji Bomanji, Mahadev V. Dhurandhar, Antonio Xavier Trindade, and M. F. Pithawalla; ‘The Calcutta Group’ profiles artists like Gobardhan Ash, Sunil Madhav Sen, Prodosh Das Gupta, Gopal Ghose, and Rathin Maitra; ‘The Progressive Painters’ Association in Chennai and the Cholamandal Artists’ Village’ includes the works of K. C. S. Paniker, J. Sultan Ali, K. V. Haridasan, M. Senathipathi, and P. Gopinath. The artists who feature in ‘The Progressive Artists Group of Bombay’ include F. N. Souza, K. H. Ara, M. F. Husain, Sadanand Bakre, and S. H. Raza. Among the artists featured in ‘The Baroda Group’ are N. S. Bendre, Jeram Patel, Bhupen Khakhar, Gulammohammed Sheikh, and Jyotsna Bhatt. The penultimate section in the book ‘Artistic Footprints: Indian Icons’ showcases artists such as B. C. Sanyal, Amrita Sher-Gil, Somnath Hore, Jehangir Sabavala, V. S. Gaitonde, K. G. Subramanyan, Ram Kumar, Krishen Khanna, Tyeb Mehta, J. Swaminathan, Himmat Shah, A. Ramachandran, Paramjit Singh, Ganesh Pyne, Jogen Chowdhury, Manu Parekh, Anjolie Ela Menon, Jatin Das, Manjit Bawa, and Thota Vaikuntam. Among the artists featured in the final section, ‘Art Landscape Post Independence’, are India’s best-known contemporary artists such as Atul Dodiya, Subodh Gupta, Arpana Caur, Jayasri Burman, Rekha Rodwittiya, Ajay Desai, and Ranbir Kaleka.
With an unparalleled collection of stunning images and illuminating text about each artist, The Big Book of Indian Art is sure to become a classic cherished by art aficionados and general readers alike.
Bina (Sarkar Ellias, b. 1949) is a poet, writer, art curator, and founder-editor-designer-publisher of International Gallerie, a biannual award-winning global arts and ideas journal since 1997. Her book of poems, Fuse, has been taught at Towson University, USA. Her seventh book of poems, Ukiyo-e Days… Haiku Moments, was recently released at several national and international venues. As an art curator, she is currently curating a 2025 show for the Pen and Brush Gallery, New York. She has delivered talks at various global art centres. She has received the Times Group Yami Women Achievers’ Award, 2008, and the FICCI/FLO 2013 Award for excellence in her work. She recently received the Women to Watch Award, 2024, for ‘her outstanding contribution to the industry’. While she lives in India, Bina believes she is a nomadic world citizen.
