THE ARTS OF INDIA

A visual survey of Indian arts proceeds from the Stone Age through the paleolithic and neolithic cultures of the Indus Valley and its continuity of tradition, thought and expression. This is seen in primitive Buddhist art, the rock temples of the early Christian era, the Gupta artistic expression of the fourth to sixth centuries, on to the medieval. As its influence spread abroad, one views Buddhist art as a whole with its duality, its creative culmination, along with its more esoteric aspects. In the 15th century Mughal influence confronted the Hindu, and shortly after art declined except in architecture, briefly. When European art dominated, Indian art became quiescent, and only today has there been a genuine renascence. No other book in this price range on the arts of India has through concise introductory material and a skillful integration of photographs-- 150--provided such a comprehensive and manageable volume for the interested general reader.