This two-volume set is the most comprehensive survey of Indian painting that the West has ever seen. Spanning 800 years and including some 240 masterpieces by more than 40 artists, it dispels the notion of anonymity in Indian art. The high points of artistic innovation in the history of Indian painting are demonstrated through works of the greatest Indian masters, some of whom are identified for the first time. The book is structured chronologically, which is unusual since Indian paintings have traditionally been classified according to regional styles or dynastic periods, with an emphasis on subject matter and narrative content. Recent scholarship, however, has begun to securely link innovations in style with specific artists and their lineages, allowing a more precise chronology of the development of Indian painting.
Masters of Indian Painting 1100-1900 accompanies the exhibition "Wonder of the Age: Master Painters of India, 1100-1900" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Milo Beach is former director of the Freer and Sackler Galleries, Washington, DC. B. N. Goswamy is professor emeritus of art history at the Panjab University, Chandigarh. Eberhard Fischer is former director of the Museum Rietberg, Zurich.
