ESSAYS IN HONOUR OF VIDYA DEHEJIA

Jitendra Dixit

356pp, ₹599, Harpercollins

The long arc of art historical enquiry in the Indian subcontinent spans several centuries, and virtually all the arts, from temple architecture and sculpture to the striking of coins. The 22 essays in this volume, a tribute to the pioneering work of art historian Vidya Dehejia, cover ancient Buddhist architecture, temple design and construction, Rajput and Mughal paintings and manuscripts, colonial-era photography, ornament, and museology.

Each author traverses a field that Dehejia herself may have opened up for examination, moving beyond contemporary conceptual questions in art history and offering fascinating insights into, for example, Indo-roman trade and the Dakshinapatha, or the Indic carvings of Quanzhou. The volume’s eclecticism extends to questions of the politics and aesthetics of archaeological restoration. The contributors refer to Dehejia’s vast art historical canvas and situate their research and fieldwork so as to contribute to the framing of conceptual issues she raised.

The Long Arc of

South Asian Art

Annapurna Garimella

336pp, ~1,175, Women Unlimited