The genre of Rajput painting flourished between the 16th and 19th centuries in the kingdoms that ruled what is now the Indian state of Rajasthan (place of rajas). Rajput paintings depicted the nobility and court spectacle as well as scenes from Krishna’s life, the Hindu epics, and court poetry. Many Rajput kingdoms developed distinct styles, though they shared common conventions. This important book surveys the overall tradition of Indian Rajput painting, while developing new methods to ask unprecedented questions about meaning. 
Through a series of in-depth studies, Aitken shows how traditional formal devices served as vital components of narrative meaning, expressions of social unity, and rich sources of intellectual play. Supported by beautiful full-color illustrations of rare and often inaccessible paintings, Aitken’s study spans five centuries, providing a comprehensive and innovative look at the Rajasthan’s court painting traditions and their continued relevance to contemporary art.

The Intelligence of Tradition in Rajput Court Painting

Arts & Photography

Aitken, Molly Emma

History & Criticism

Yale University Press

This book was produced in conjunction with an exhibition presented at the Asia Society Museum in New York, September 14, 2004 to January 23, 2005. It not only celebrates the dazzling beauty and awe-inspiring technical perfection of Indian jewelry but also provides an historical and social framework. As the exhibition centered on South Indian jewelry, so the focus of the book is on gold rather than precious stones. The objects are studied in a broad social and cultural perspective, with far-ranging references to literature, religious symbolism, and social implications, as well as analyzed in terms of form and technique.

When Gold Blossoms: Indian Jewelry from the Susan L. Beningson Collection

Phillip Wilson

From E.M. Forster to Peter Matthiessen to Allen Ginsberg, many of the world's most acclaimed writers have traveled to the holy lands of India seeking spiritual enlightenment. Their lyrical and highly personal recollections are compiled here for the first time in one volume, taking readers on a colorful journey to each of the eight Buddhist pilgrimage sites of India.

Meeting the Buddha: On Pilgrimage in Buddhist India

Religion & Spirituality

Buddhism

Penguin Publishing Group

•Recent re-visionings of the categories of Indian Painting•Features the latest scholarship in the field, while acknowledging its debt to early expertsIn the 100 years since Ananda Coomaraswamy wrote his seminal two-volume, Rajput Painting, the field of Indian painting studies has gone through a period of explosive discovery. From the scholarly establishment of a framework of schools and periods, to the expansion of knowledge about individual artists and workshops, the movement has been documented in ever-increasing depth. This centenary offers a chance to rethink the very nature of the categories, methods, and indeed the passions that guided past scholars, whose dedication has brought Indian painting to the fore of art today. Accordingly, this book focuses on a paradigm shift in painting studies that has had significant impact on this revival of interest. Pursuing questions of meaning, the essays in this volume look beyond pictorial taxonomies and disciplinary boundaries towards the far-reaching cultural preoccupations of 16th- to early 20th-century India. In doing so, they can also be said to come full circle to the kinds of wide-ranging and ambitious explorations of meaning and motivation that excited Coomaraswamy. Without doubt, they honor Coomaraswamy's still palpable desire to awaken a global audience to the pleasures of Indian painting.

A Magic World: New Visions of Indian Painting

Marg Foundation

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Aitken, Molly Emma. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Aitken, Molly Emma

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Aitken, Molly Emma. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Intelligence of Tradition in Rajput Court Painting

When Gold Blossoms: Indian Jewelry from the Susan L. Beningson Collection

Meeting the Buddha: On Pilgrimage in Buddhist India

A Magic World: New Visions of Indian Painting