MIDNIGHT TO THE BOOM: PAINTING IN INDIA AFTER INDEPENDENCE

MIDNIGHT TO THE BOOM: PAINTING IN INDIA AFTER INDEPENDENCE, THAMES AND HUDSON PUBLICATION. SOFTCOVER, 2013, 228 PAGES, NO INSCRIPTIONS OR NAMES, IN EXCELLENT CONDITION.

A revolutionary art movement asserted itself in India between the declaration of independence at midnight on August 15, 1947, and the economic boom of the 1990s. This is the first in-depth study of the three generations of artists responsible for critical shifts in the development of Indias modernist art. Their achievements and the countrys unprecedented boom ushered Indias modern and contemporary art into a new era of globalism, a soaring international market, and an explosion in the media and technologies of art. After independence, Indias artists faced a particular artistic challenge: how to express the new nations distinctive character while entering a global discourse focused on modernisms universal premises of experimentation and shared human values. In the absence of a dominant aesthetic, painters could turn where they wished and blend as they likedfrom Abstract Expressionism to Tantric spiritualism; from Rajasthani painting to changes in Indias complex politics, religions, classes, and vernacular life. The contributors to this beautifully illustrated publication bring a deep knowledge of both India and modern and contemporary art: Susan S. Bean, Curator of South Asian and Korean Art at the Peabody Essex Museum; Homi K. Bhabha, Harvard University; Rebecca M. Brown, Johns Hopkins University; Beth Citron, Rubin Museum of Art; Ajay Sinha, Mount Holyoke College; and Karin Zitzewitz, Michigan State University.