Dance in Indian Painting

About Dance in Indian Painting

"Classical Indian Dance in Literature and the Arts" by Kapila Vatsyayan was the first definitive work on the integral interrelationship of the Indian Arts. A companion volume with particular reference to painting was promised. The present study reconstructs the history of movement through the evidence of the pictorial arts: it encompasses a vast canvas in space and time from Himachal to Kerala, Gujarat to Assam, from the prehistoric caves to the 19th century. It focuses attention on the interdependence of the two arts, thus providing a new basis for investigating both the evolution of Indian dance styles as also the formal aspects of Indian painting. The study is based on textual, literary and chronicle evidence and is supported by colour and black and white illustrations of many new discoveries. The study is characteristic of the author's internationally acknowledged ability to meaningfully relate theory and practice, regional variations, disciplines and artistic manifestations.