Desai: Art and Icon

Desai, Devangana:
Art and Icon : Essays on Early Indian Art / Devangana Desai. - New Delhi : Aryan Books International, 2013. - xxvi, 310 S. : Ill.
ISBN 978-81-7305-438-9
Rs. 2800,00
US$ 101,30 (D.K. Agencies)
US$ 139,50 (Bagchee)
DDC: 709.54

Beschreibung
The author's love for ancient Indian art and several years of intensive research are reflected in the essays included in this book. The essays cover a wide spectrum, from the sensuous to the sublime, from an analysis of narrative Ramayana sculptures, to a discussion of the relevance of Tantrism to erotic temple sculpture, to a study of ancient terracottas in a socio-cultural context. Art and Icon brings together for the first time 16 selected essays from the 90 that Dr. Devangana Desai has written over a period of 35 years, many of which are not easily accessible. These have been edited and updated with new material. The essays are divided into six sections: i) Approaches to Art, ii) Terracotta Art, iii) Iconography, iv) Iconology and Meaning in Art, v) Art and Eroticism, and vi) Narrative Art. Icons and images, sacred objects of veneration, are generally guided by elaborate rules and conventions detailing their size, sitting or standing postures and hand gestures. Artists have more flexibility when depicting non-iconic subjects. However, the line between art and icon is rather thin as is evident in some magnificent images published in this book. The author reveals the interrelationships and interactions between various fields of art - sculpture, dance and narration of stories - as can be noticed particularly in the articles on the dancing Ganesa, the auspicious motifs of Salabhanjika (woman-and-tree) and surasundari (celestial nymph), and the figures in the narrative sculptural panels. The article "The Temple as an Ordered Whole - The Iconic Scheme at Khajuraho" is a significant contribution to an iconological study of temple art. This well-illustrated book will be valuable to scholars as well as students of Indian art and will also appeal to general readers. [Verlagsinformation]

Inhalt
Acknowledgements. ix
Abbreviations. xiii
List of Illustrations. xv
Credits for Illustrations. xxi
Introduction. xxiii
I. APPROACHES TO ART
   1. Social Dimensions of Art in Early India. 1
   2. Textual Sources in the Study of Temple Art. 34
II. TERRACOTTA ART
   3. Ancient Indian Terracottas in their Social Context (c. 600 BCE-CE 600). 50
   4. Goddesses in Clay - The Ritual Art of the Indian People. 76
III. ICONOGRAPHY
   5. Dancing Gaṇeśa. 88
   6. Mother Goddess and Her Partner. 108
   7. A Remarkable Kushana Image-Linga from Mathura. 114
   8. Bronzes from Sopara - Seven Buddhas and Maitreya. 124
IV. ICONOLOGY AND MEANING IN ART
   9. The Temple as an Ordered Whole - The Iconic Scheme at Khajuraho. 134
   10. Śālabhañjikā and Surasundarī - Auspicious Figures in Art. 154
   11. The Symbolism of Kūrma in Art and Myth. 181
V. ART AND EROTICISM
   12. Erotic Literature. 195
   13. Tantrism and Erotic Temple Sculpture. 207
   14. Beyond the Erotic at Khajuraho. 232
VI. NARRATIVE ART
   15. The Rāmāyaṇa Episode Vali-vadha in Indian Sculpture (up to CE 1300). 247
   16. Śveta-dvīpa Devotees of Nārāyaṇa - A Unique Panel at Khajuraho. 269
Glossary. 277
Bibliography. 285
Index. 297

Autorin
Dr. DEVANGANA DESAI, art historian, is author of Khajuraho - Monumental Legacy, 2000 (13th impression, 2011), The Religious Imagery of Khajuraho, 1996, Erotic Sculpture of India - A Socio-Cultural Study, (second ed.) 1985, and over 90 papers on various aspects of ancient Indian art. She obtained her Ph.D. from the University of Bombay in 1970. Dr. Desai is Vice-President of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai. She was the Hon. Editor of its Journal (1992-2009). She was Chairperson of the Museum Society of Bombay for nine years, from 1983 to 1992. She was Consultant on a Project on the Museum Images of Khajuraho, Franco-Indian Research, Mumbai. Dr. Desai is Editor of the Monumental Legacy Series on the World Heritage Sites in India, Oxford University Press. She is Hon. Professor, Ananthacharya Indological Research Institute, University of Mumbai.

Quellen: Aryan Books International; D.K. Agencies; WorldCat; Indian Books; Amazon; Bagchee
Bildquelle: Aryan Books International
Bibliographie: [1]

References