Picture Showmen

Patanjali, in the Mahabhasya, ca. 140 B.C., elucidates the use of the historical present by reference (1) to dramatic representations of the Krsna legend given by a sort of actors called Saubhikas, who certainly employed pantomime and may or may not have used spoken words, (2) to the display of paintings

The Intellectual Operation In Indian Art

The Sukranitisara, IV, 70-71 (translated in my "Transformation of Nature in Art", p. 113) defines the initial procedure of the Indian imager : he is to be expert in contemplative vision (yoga-dhyana), for which the canonical prescriptions provide the basis, and only in this way, and not by

Mata Bharata

Published in Modern Review, 1907, Vol 1, pp. 369-371

There was once a tall, fair woman, not indeed young- no one could have thought that-but serene to the uttermost and possessed of great patience and grace. In years past she had been famed for wisdom, and the wise men of the world

Art and Craftsmanship

In reply to the enquiry, What is art? an answer may be made as follows: Art is the involuntary dramatisation of subjective experience. In other words, the crystallisation of a state of mind in images (whether visual, auditory or otherwise). This excludes from art the practical activity of mere illustration,

The Message of the East II

What then is the message of the East? In its most universal form it is still that message which the West has for nineteen centuries ignored : The kingdom of God is within you : Look within --Thou art the Buddha : Thou art that. As the message of the West has been one of diversity, analysis, and the

The Message of the East I

In the relations between India and England since the beginning of the nineteenth century, two different and complementary tendencies have been at work, the relative significance of which is some-times overlooked. These are the respective influences exerted by the culture and civilisation of each country

The Present State of Indian Art I- Painting and Sculpture

I have been invited by the Editor to contribute one or more papers on Indian art; I shall, therefore, endeavour in two or three articles to review its present state and future prospects. The first deals particularly with the ‘line arts,’ i.e., painting and sculpture, not purely decorative in intention,

The Aim of Indian Art

The aims of art have been very various at different times and in different places. The aims of Indian art, as of Indian culture in general, have changed less than the aims of art elsewhere, a fact not so much due to the supposed conservatism of India, as to the fact that Indian civilization and culture