Indian Art in Detail - Tapa dura

Ideal as a spur to creative inspiration or an introduction to a museum or gallery visit, this beautiful book offers a striking and unusual view of the wide array of Indian art. The book highlights in close-up and gorgeous colour the most breathtaking aspects of workmanship, materials and design found in stunning sculptures in metal, ivory and wood as well as paintings and textiles. The book is arranged thematically, opening with an introduction asking What is Indian art? The chapters that follow place the objects and designs into their cultural context. Each of the intriguing and beautiful artworks is then explored further with amazing close-up views, allowing the reader insight even closer than a behind-the-scenes museum tour. By showing the complete artwork alongside a detail, the author provides a fresh view of each object which often allows for intriguing comparisons between seemingly unrelated objects and media. The selection of details evokes the hand and eye of the most accomplished Indian craftsmen, past and present.

A. L. Dallapiccola is Honorary Professor at the University of Edinburgh and makes regular research visits to India. She is the author of Indian Love Poetry, Hindu Visions of the Sacred and Hindu Myths, as well as a Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend. She is currently preparing a catalogue of the South Indian paintings in the British Museum.