This lavishly illustrated book examines the history of the printed image in India from its beginnings in the 1870s to the present day. Using many intriguing and unfamiliar visuals, it shows how printed images have been pivotal to the constructions of new forms of religious identity and the struggle for political independence in India. Drawing on years of archival research, interviews with artists and publishers, and the ethnographic study of their rural consumers, the book makes for an engaging visual and narrative journey. It sets the detailed output of individual presses and artists against the intensification of the nationalist struggle, the constraints imposed by colonial state censorship, and fifty years of Indian independence. Along the way, it also introduces the reader to artists who trained within colonial art schools, others whose skills reflect their membership of traditional painting castes, and yet others who are self-taught former sign painters. Combining anthropology, political and cultural history, and the study of aesthetic systems, the book shows that the current predicament of India cannot be understood without taking into account this complex, exciting, and until now virtually unseen, visual history. This book will fascinate general readers, art lovers and all those interested in South Asian history, popular art and culture.
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