Himalayas: An Aesthetic Adventure by Pratapaditya Pal, Oskar Von Hinuber (Contribution by), Gautama V. Vajracharya (Contribution by)

Product Details

Synopsis

Featuring 187 works in bronze, stone, ceramic, and paint, this substantial catalogue accompanied an exhibition held at The Art Institute of Chicago in 2003 and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in Washington, DC in 2003-2004. Pal's (retired visiting curator of Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian art at the Institute) introduction describes the creation, context, and use of the art of the Himalayas (an area now shared by India, Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan). Almost all of the works are examples of religious art used by Hindus, Buddhists, or Bonpos (followers of the Bon faith). A description of religious content and probable use are given for each work, when these are known, in Pal's detailed catalog entries. The volume was published by The Art Institute of Chicago in association with the U. of California Press and Mapin Publishing. Annotation ©2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Library Journal

When I was young, I used to look through the wrong end of binoculars to make everything small. The familiar feeling surged over me as I considered the illustrations in this exhibition catalog of a grand survey of Himalayan art, which will be shown at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Smithsonian. The design of this thick, handsomely printed book devotes far too much space to a wordy art historical text and lavish white areas and far too little to the fascinating artworks. The catalog covers religious painting and sculpture from Jammu, Kashmir, Ladakh, Tibet, Nepal, and Bhutan, with an illustration of each artwork and a description and explanation by principal author Pal. While the text is accessible to lay readers, if somewhat dry, three appendixes describing and translating the inscriptions on the artworks will interest only researchers in the field. Best suited for specialized art and larger academic libraries.-David McClelland, Philadelphia Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Biography

Pratapaditya Pal is Visiting Curator of India, Himalayan, and Southwest Asian Art at The Art Institute of Chicago and former Senior Curator of Indian and Southeast Asian Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). He is the author or coauthor of over fifty books, monographs, and exhibition catalogs. Amy Heller has been a member of a research team of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris since 1986. Her publications include Tibetan Art (1999).