The Bounteous Tree: Treasures in Indian Art and Culture

Email

Whatsapp

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Copy link

Art is a diverse range of human activities in creating visual, auditory or performing artifacts (artworks), expressing the author's imaginative, conceptual ideas, or technical skill, intended to be appreciated for their beauty or emotional power. Other activities related to the production of works of art include the criticism of art, the study of the history of art, and the aesthetic dissemination of art. The three classical branches of art are painting, sculpture and architecture. Music, theatre, film, dance, and other performing arts, as well as literature and other media such as interactive media, are included in a broader definition of the arts. Indian art consists of a variety of art forms, including painting, sculpture, pottery, and textile arts such as woven silk. Geographically, it spans the entire Indian subcontinent, including what is now India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and eastern Afghanistan. A strong sense of design is characteristic of Indian art and can be observed in its modern and traditional forms. The origin of Indian art can be traced to pre-historic settlements in the 3rd millennium BC. There is no clear line between art and culture. Cultural fields like gastronomy are sometimes considered as arts. This valuable book will be useful for anyone interested in ancient civilizations.

Anup Kumar is Research Scholar in the Department of Culture and Media Studies at Patliputra University, Patna. He has attended many national and international seminars. His several research papers have been published in reputed journals.

Art is a diverse range of human activities in creating visual, auditory or performing artifacts (artworks), expressing the author's imaginative, conceptual ideas, or technical skill, intended to be appreciated for their beauty or emotional power. Other activities related to the production of works of art include the criticism of art, the study of the history of art, and the aesthetic dissemination of art. The three classical branches of art are painting, sculpture and architecture. Music, theatre, film, dance, and other performing arts, as well as literature and other media such as interactive media, are included in a broader definition of the arts. Until the 17th century, art referred to any skill or mastery and was not differentiated from crafts or sciences. In modern usage after the 17th century, where aesthetic considerations are paramount, the fine arts are separated and distinguished from acquired skills in general, such as the decorative or applied arts. Though the definition of what constitutes art is disputed and has changed over time, general descriptions mention an idea of imaginative or technical skill stemming from human agency and creation. The nature of art and related concepts, such as creativity and interpretation, are explored in a branch of philosophy known as aesthetics. There is no clear line between art and culture. Cultural fields like gastronomy are sometimes considered as arts.

Indian art consists of a variety of art forms, including painting, sculpture, pottery, and textile arts such as woven silk. Geographically, it spans the entire Indian subcontinent, including what is now India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and eastern Afghanistan. A strong sense of design is characteristic of Indian art and can be observed in its modern and traditional forms. The origin of Indian art can be traced to pre-historic settlements in the 3rd millennium BC. On its way to modern times, Indian art has had cultural influences, as well as religious influences such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and Islam. In spite of this complex mixture of religious traditions, generally, the prevailing artistic style at any time and place has been shared by the major religious groups. A glance over the terrain traced by Indian art over the past century shows a diverse range of artistic responses to reality. While in the early years Indian painters seemed to concem themselves primarily with the societal, the coming of the modernists and then the contemporaries, a younger group of artists born after independence, variegated India's artistic outlook dramatically in the following decades. Artists' assertions became, at different times, nationalist or modemist, socially responsive or intensely subjective, fiercely indigenist or defiantly international, or self consciously traditionalist or fashionably post-modernist. These moments were not, of course, mutually exclusive and did not necessarily follow in the order listed, but mirrored to a great extent the diversity of the artistic impulses developed in India during the 20th and early 21st centuries.

This valuable book will be useful for anyone interested in ancient civilizations.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages