Mohan Samant (1924-2004), among the earliest of the post-Independence modern Indian artists to train in India and settle as a successful mature artist in the West, has been called ‘one of the few artists who has successfully made the bridge between Eastern and Western traditions.’
Born in Mumbai, Samant received his diploma from the Sir JJ School of Art in 1952, where he had studied under S.B. Palsikar. That year he joined the Progressive Artists Group. Extended periods abroad – 1957-58 in Rome and travel in Europe and Egypt, 1959-64 in New York City – preceded his leaving Mumbai permanently for New York in 1968, where he lived until his death in 2004.
Published in association with Abraham Joel, New York, and Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai. With an introduction by Ranjit Hoskote and additional contributions from Abhijeet Gondkar, Virginia Kaycoff, Sharad Ghamande, Barbara Bertieri, Abraham Joel, and Judith Wink.

Previously published as part of a set, this volume, which concentrates on Samant’s paintings, is now available separately.

Mohan Samant (1924-2004), among the earliest of the post-Independence modern Indian artists to train in India and settle as a successful mature artist in the West, has been called ‘one of the few artists who has successfully made the bridge between Eastern and Western traditions.’
Born in Mumbai, Samant received his diploma from the Sir JJ School of Art in 1952, where he had studied under S.B. Palsikar. That year he joined the Progressive Artists Group. Extended periods abroad – 1957-58 in Rome and travel in Europe and Egypt, 1959-64 in New York City – preceded his leaving Mumbai permanently for New York in 1968, where he lived until his death in 2004.
Published in association with Abraham Joel, New York, and Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai. With an introduction by Ranjit Hoskote and additional contributions from Abhijeet Gondkar, Virginia Kaycoff, Sharad Ghamande, Barbara Bertieri, Abraham Joel, and Judith Wink.

Previously published as part of a set, this volume, which concentrates on Samant’s paintings, is now available separately.

Mohan Samant (1924-2004), among the earliest of the post-Independence modern Indian artists to train in India and settle as a successful mature artist in the West, has been called ‘one of the few artists who has successfully made the bridge between Eastern and Western traditions.’ Born in Mumbai, Samant received his diploma from the Sir JJ School of Art in 1952, where he had studied under S.B. Palsikar. That year he joined the Progressive Artists Group. Extended periods abroad – 1957-58 in Rome and travel in Europe and Egypt, 1959-64 in New York City – preceded his leaving Mumbai permanently for New York in 1968, where he lived until his death in 2004. This volume, the definitive work on the artist, presents a comprehensive overview of Samant’s life and work. Also included are essays on Samant’s place in the development of modernism in post-Independence India, a chronological survey of the styles, techniques and themes employed by the artist, and analyses of the media and techniques he utilized.

Published in association with Abraham Joel, New York, and Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai. With an introduction by Ranjit Hoskote and additional contributions from Abhijeet Gondkar, Virginia Kaycoff, Sharad Ghamande, Barbara Bertieri, Abraham Joel, and Judith Wink.

The first to describe in detail a community of potters working for the Jagannatha Temple in Puri, eastern India, Temple Potters of Puri explores the role of the temple servant and how it affects the potters’ understanding of their work and of themselves. As a pilgrimage center of national importance, supported by the patronage of successive regional dynasties and by fervent popular belief, the Jagannatha Temple requires earthenware in great quantities for the creation and distribution of the sacred food that is an integral feature of daily ritual and pilgrimage. Several hundred potters participate as temple servants in maintaining the temple’s ritual cycle by performing their divinely assigned task. This study observes the potters’ technical prowess, sustained by devotion, but also examines the tensions within their relationships to more powerful temple servants and authorities. The role of the potter as temple servant is at once glorious, as demonstrated by texts and personal interpretations of the potters’ divinely-appointed service, and pathetic, as shown in the brutality of caste-based hierarchy and cash-based exchange penetrating the modern temple’s daily operations. The accompanying DVD shows the potters at work and records their skills and products as well as the annual festival that celebrates their role as temple servants.

This book brings together works from one of the most important private collections of modern and contemporary art, the D. Daskalopoulos Collection with key pieces from the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. Providing a new context for both collections, it specifically focuses on the theme of the body, investigating the many and varied approaches that artists have taken across several decades when dealing with this most fundamental of subjects. Highlighting the work of artists such as Marcel Duchamp, Pablo Picasso, Louise Bourgeois, Joseph Beuys, Robert Gober, Matthew Barney, Marina Abramovic and Sarah Lucas, the publication documents the confrontations and dialogues staged between the two collections, and provides a rich insight into one of the most compelling and provocative themes in twentieth- and twenty-first century visual art.

Through the early works of Andy Warhol and Eduardo Paolozzi, this book traces the development of their deep obsession with the machine. Looking at the way that both artists began in the late 1940s and the years following, the book illustrates their fascination with popular culture and the methods that they used in creating their art. Common to all their methods of making works was their hand-made quality. Only in the 1960s did the artists make the step to mechanical means to create their own artworks, resulting in the iconic images that are integral to our culture. As Warhol said of himself, there is only surface, with nothing underneath.

This richly illustrated publication explores the work of contemporary artist Nathan Coley. It offers a detailed look at three of his most significant sculptural works: The Lamp of Sacrifice, 286 Places of Worship, Edinburgh 2004, 2004; Paul, 2015; and Tate Modern on Fire, 2017, which is reproduced and discussed here for the first time. In a newly commissioned text, award-winning novelist, screenwriter and director Ewan Morrison focuses on these three sculptures to explore the complexity and ambiguity of Coley’s artistic practice. Morrison brings into play different narrative forms and voices to draw attention to the realms of history, art history and politics that Coley’s work inhabits, as well as the deeply personal responses that Coley’s work can generate.

This book brings together over 160 of the finest surrealist artworks by legendary artists including Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, René Magritte, Joan Miró and Man Ray. The works hail from the four renowned and extraordinary private collections of Edward James, Roland Penrose, Gabrielle Keiller and Ulla and Heiner Pietzsch, and together offer a superb overview of surrealist art.

Ten essays explore the different origins, historical contexts and creative urges behind these collections. Artworks, perhaps more than anything else that one can acquire, are objects of desire and surrealist artworks even more so. The sheer quality of the works acquired (and, in the case of the Pietzsches, still being acquired) is astonishing and, while passionate about their private visions, all the collectors have been mindful of contributing something to the public good.

The collections complement each other to an extraordinary degree and allow us to follow some of the artists’ careers from beginning to end. By uniting them, exciting new juxtapositions emerge along with a fuller and richer picture of the surrealist movement as a whole.

British realist art of the 1920s and 1930s is visually stunning – strong, seductive and demonstrating extraordinary technical skill. Despite this, it is often overshadowed by abstract art. This book presents the very first overview of British realist painting of the period, showcasing outstanding works from private and public collections across the UK. Of the forty artists featured in the show, many were major figures in the 1920s and 1930s but later passed out of fashion as abstraction and Pop Art became the dominant trends in the post-war years. In the last decade their work has re-emerged and interest in them has grown. Interwar realist art embraces a number of different styles, but is characterized by fine drawing, meticulous craftsmanship, a tendency towards classicism and an aversion to impressionism and visible brushwork. Artists such as Gerald Leslie Brockhurst, Meredith Frampton, James Cowie and Winifred Knights combine fastidious Old Master detail with 1920s modernity. Stanley Spencer spans various camps while Lucian Freud’s early work can be seen as a realist coda which continued into the 1940s and beyond. Featuring many Scottish and women artists, this book promises a fascinating insight into this captivating period of British art. Contents: Introductory essay: About British Realist Painting Main essay entitled “What sort of Truth?” British Realist Painting between the Wars Urban and Rural Society/War Domestic Leisure/Play/Spectacle Still Life Artists’ biographies Bibliography

At the heart of Indian literature, Dance Theatre of India by Katia Légeret-Manochhaya, is a book where the author explores the various rasas of Bharata-natyam and other dance forms, both as a dancer and a researcher. In the milieu of diverse linguistic and cultural interpretations, the book is a field of experimentation where the modalities for expressions and cultural differences would forever reinvent themselves. As one browses through the pages, one is transported to a world of dance and drama reading the various expressions of the artists in colorful costumes narrating stories from all over the world. The examples proposed are linked with knowledge which derives from the erudition of Sanskrit texts or from the collective creativity of artists from several cultures of India and other countries. Like the art forms it discusses, the book is a transcultural piece of work in its very essence.

Thomas Daniell was thirty-six years old when he and his nephew William, barely sixteen, sailed out from Gravesend in April 1785, headed for the East. They arrived in Calcutta via China the next year.

The Daniells traveled across India, painting oriental scenery wherever they went. Their views were widely appreciated and are representative of that fascinating period. The Daniells returned to England in September 1794. This special book presents a selection of their work in India, bringing alive the scenery and architecture of that age.

Faith and Freedom: Gandhi in History offers a meticulously researched account of Gandhi – his historical background, campaigns, impact on Indian life, and the guidance he still continues to offer in dealing with contemporary problems. The book offers a particularly illuminating and long overdue account of Gandhi’s association with Muslim leaders, and shows how politically tragic religious nationalism can be. Written by one of India’s leading historians, this book is a must read for everyone interested in understanding the political landscape of modern India.

Heaven on Earth: The Universe of Kerala’s Guruvayur Temple is a remarkable and unique record enhanced by photographs that not only portray all aspects of life within the temple, but its atmosphere of intangible divinity. It is a temple whose elaborate poojas have survived the many vicissitudes of history, of wars and changing times, always adhering to the rules that Adi Sankaracharya is said to have laid down a thousand years ago.

The book chronicles the lives, craft and culture of people living in six rural areas of West Bengal where the economy is driven by rather unusual professions. One cluster of craftsmen churns out wigs, others make lights, polo balls, boats, shuttlecocks and jeans. Following the original process which has been passed down generations, these craftsmen keep alive old family traditions. In the Shadows: Unknown Craftsmen of Bengal celebrates the indomitable spirit of enterprise of rural craftsmen while gently reminding us that each time a craftsman passes away, the craft moves a step closer to extinction. Contents: Introduction The Wig-makers: Village: Baniban Jagdishpur, 40 kilometres from Calcutta, Distict: Howrah, State: West Bengal The Light-makers: Town: Chandernagor; 45 kilometres from Calcutta; District: Hooghly; State: West Bengal The Polo Ball-makers: Village: Deulpur, 30 kilometres from Calcutta, District: Howrah, State: West Bengal The Boat-makers: Town: Balagarh, 90 kilometres from Calcutta, District: Hooghly, State: West Bengal, The Shuttlecock-makers: Village: Jadurberia, 40 kilometres from Calcutta, District: Howrah, State: West Bengal The Jeans-makers: Village: Chatta Kalikapur, 25 kilometres from Calcutta, District: South 24 Parganas, State: West Bengal

Indira Gandhi is perhaps one of the few Indian leaders whose recognition factor has not diminished with time. Her leadership sparked furious debates and controversy, spawning satire both in film and in print. Her legacy, both in terms of politics and progeny continue to impact the future of this country. In Indira Gandhi: The Final Chapter, Suraj ‘Eskay’ Sriram, through his cartoons and illustrations, presents a snapshot of the Indian political and social scene at the time. Presented with tongue-in-cheek humor, wit and cynicism, ‘Eskay’ has an uncanny knack of getting to the heart of the matter with just a few swift strokes of his pen. What better way to reacquaint ourselves with the good, the bad, the ugly – and the humorous! – events that took place during the ‘final chapter’ of Indira’s reign? Contents: Foreword Preface Introduction Indira, Family, Friends & Foes The Indian Scene Personality Parade End of the Final Chapter Epilogue Acknowledgements The Last Page

Afghanistan has perhaps always preferred to live with uncertainties. The eminent Bengali writer Syed Mujtaba Ali had to quit the country overnight while on a visit in 1927, threatened by political upheavals. Amitabha Ray spent some time in Kabul between 2007 and 2008, as a representative of the Government of India on a United Nations mission. Living a risky existence in an unsettled country he was nevertheless awestruck by its unique landscape, ancient heritage and the natural warmth of its people. Kabulnama is his tribute to those years, sharing personal moments of anxiety, lending a glimpse into the life of the common Afghan. It is a rare journey along the highs and lows of the land and the times. There is camaraderie amidst chaos in this story of a battle-worn nation in a rugged land, lending a ringside view of its natural beauty, history, culture, travel, food and people.

The monsoon is the season of pouring rain and intense emotions: love and longing, hope and fear, pleasure and pain, devotion and joyous excess. Through a series of evocative essays exploring rain-drenched worlds of poetry, songs, paintings, architecture, films, gardens, festivals, music, and medicine, this lavishly illustrated collection examines the history of monsoon feelings in South Asia from the twelfth century to the present. Each essay is written by a specialist in the field of South Asian arts and culture, and investigates emotions as reflections and agents of social, cultural, and political change across borders of language and religion and between different arts and cultural practices. This history of emotions in the rain is as rich, surprising, beautiful and devastating as the thundering monsoon clouds, and will delight general and scholarly audiences alike.

The East has been for centuries, or perhaps forever, the holy, the sacred, the source of life. Not only does the sun rise in the East, so does a Gautam Buddha. The East has produced thousands of mystics. Just as the West has produced great scientists, the East has produced great explorers of one’s being. The East attracts the seeker, almost like a magnet. Mystics of the East is a compilation of Osho’s discourses on some of the Enlightened Masters who were born in the East: Atisha, Baul mystics, Boddhidharma, the Buddha, Chuang Tze, Kabir, Lao Tzu, Mahakashyap, Nansen, Patanjali and Tilopo. Contents: Introduction Atisha Baul Mystics Bodhidharma Gautama the Buddha Chuang Tzu Kabir Lao Tzu Mahakashyap Nansen Patanjali Tilopa

Jack Allanach leaves home impulsively – in search of his true self – meets a married man, Michael (whose wife he also marries several years later), becomes his lover and sets out to travel with him, doing Dynamic Meditation on a Bombay beach. They take sannyas as Krishna Prem and Divyananda – disciples of Osho – and take part in a quasi-survivor experiment in a group of thirty people, building huts by a river with their hands. A commune establishes around Osho in Pune and people from all over the world arrive for discourses, therapy and meditation. As head of the commune’s Press Office, Krishna Prem meets Indian Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Morarji Desai, as well as international journalists probing Osho’s controversial views on sex and consciousness. In a hive of mysticism, past-life experiences and inexplicable events, Krishna Prem embarks on his first fulfilling relationship with a woman.

Zorba is not separate from Buddha. The West is not separate from the East. In fact, any form of materialism that has no values of spirituality is going to be very mundane, profane and ugly. It will not have any flights to the open sky towards the stars. It will not flower and release its fragrance; it will be just a rock. Spiritualism without materialism may have beautiful values but it is without foundations. It may create great palaces reaching to the stars, but without foundations these palaces can only be hallucinations, they cannot be real. Zorba the Buddha comprises of a selection made from Osho’s discourses on the synthesis of materialism and spiritualism, the Zorba and the Buddha. Contents: Preface; The Ultimate Synthesis; I Proclaim Homo Novus; We Have to Create Zorba the Buddha; I am Pregnant with the Authentic Religion; Zorba the Buddha is Humanity’s Future; The Whole Man is the Only Holy Man There Is; Only a Pagan can Become a Buddha; An Enlightened Man is Free; The Buddha is the Peak the Zorba is the Foundation; The World Needs Only One Kind of Man: Zorba the Buddha; Without Zorba there is no Buddha; I Have Called the New Man Zorba the Buddha; Zorba is Playfulness, Buddha is Reverence; Only a Zorba can be a Buddha, and only a Buddha can be a Zorba; Zorba Has To Become Buddha; Zorba is the Beginning, Buddha is the Fulfillment; In You the Synthesis is Happening; Zorba is Only the Beginning; Meditation is the Bridge between Zorba and Buddha; Zorba is Love, Buddha is Awareness; My Whole Effort is to Create the New Man as Zorba the Buddha; Zorba the Buddha is the New Man; I have joined Zorba and Zen; Epilogue .

In 1778 Pierre Henri De Valenciennes, a young landscape painter from Toulouse, found himself in Rome with many other foreign artists intent on studying not only the ancient monuments and the works of the modern masters, but also to encounter Italy’s light and landscape. Contrary to most of his companions, Valenciennes rarely copied ancient or modern works of art, but instead he chose to sketch views of Rome, ‘a mix of antique and of modern, an assemblage of irregularity and symmetry’. The 96 pages of the sketchbook, reproduced in their actual size and accompanied by a commentary, guide us through Rome, from the river port of Ripa Grande to the basilica of St. John Lateran, from the Ponte Salario bridge to the Vatican, from Piazza Barberini to the Villa Borghese and along the banks of the river Tiber. An advocate of en plein air painting, Valenciennes’ sketches use two or three tints of the same colour to trace the landscape of an ideal Rome, and to achieve this goal he did not hesitate to modify or move the surrounding architecture.

Contents: Preface by Xavier Salmon, Director of the Prints and Drawings Department of the Louvre; Introduction; Travel to Italy and meeting with artists; Valenciennes’ Italian Sketchbooks; Description of the organisation of Sketchbook RF 12966; Material Description; Provenance; List of Exhibitions, Bibliography.

Text in French.

The Selous was my very first Africa experience, and it remains my favorite. Robert J. Ross’s extraordinary photographs take us into a natural world unlike any other on earth. A world of elephants. Of wild dogs. Of nature as it should be, can be, might be – if we keep these breathtaking images firmly in mind. A triumph! Bryan Christy, Director, Special Investigations Unit, National Geographic
The Selous Game Reserve in southern Tanzania is Africa’s oldest and largest protected area.  Proclaimed in 1896, and bigger than Switzerland, the Selous is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Selous remains one of Africa’s largest and greatest undisturbed ecosystems, teeming with life including one of the two largest elephant populations remaining on the African continent, probably half of all of the wild dogs in Africa, vast herds of buffalo as well as more lions than any other protected area on the continent as reported by National Geographic in August 2013. The game reserve is becoming more important by the day as the pressure on elephants and other species grows – problems that are addressed here in this book. New-York born photographer Rob Ross has spent much of the past four years photographing in this vast and difficult to access reserve. He has compiled more than 100,000 images showing all aspects of the reserves varied landscapes, seasons, flora and large and small fauna. The spectacular large-format photography book features a selection of the very best images including landscapes, wildlife portraits and behavior, night photography, impressionist style work and breath-taking aerials.