“Nainy’s text makes for an easy read and does its best to demystify the subject of art history that is far too often regarded as beyond the grasp of young learners.”

NO MAJOR SPOILERS

This neatly designed book is meant to introduce youngsters to the world of Indian art and will act as a refresher for some adults too. Mamta Nainy starts with cave art and moves on, linking forms and styles, so that from the Altamira caves she goes to the Ajanta and Ellora caves. In the book she manages to span the vast canvas of Indian art, from age old to new age.

Along the way she throws in interesting nuggets of mythology and history that will definitely help to bring new interest the subject for young adults. Which includes things like the entry fee for museums – something that may date, though not just yet, and the fact that Mithila art was created for the marriage of Sita with the goddess Parvati acting as one of the artists.

Illlustrations by Aniruddha Mukherjee act as a counterpoint to the text. However, they go to prove that a subject as colourful art can be detailed in black and white too – though there are colour illustrations in the middle Nainy’s text makes for an easy read and does its best to demystify the subject of art history that is far too often regarded as beyond the grasp of young learners.

 

Reviewed by:

Anjana Basu

Added 13th July 2018

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Anjana Basu