The Progressive Revolution

"Formed within months of the 1947 Partition of India and the ensuing violence and protest, the Progressive Artists' Group (PAG) included artists seeking a break with their country's past and its cultural constraints. Through lush illustrations and scholarly essays, this volume looks at the brand of modernism the Group espoused and its relevance and importance to contemporary art. The careers of artists K.H. Ara, S.K. Bakre, H.A. Gade, V.S. Gaitonde, M.F. Husain, Krishen Khanna, Ram Kumar, Tyeb Mehta, Akbar Padamsee, S.H. Raza, Mohan Samant, and F.N. Souza are presented in three sections. Progressives in Their Time explores how the artists turned away from the trauma of colonial rule and Partition, and embraced the land and varied peoples of the new nation. National/International demonstrates how the Progressives drew on multiple traditions of visual iconography, both from within India and from Asia and the wider world, to creat their own distinct genre. Masters of the Game brings together works created after the PAG's dissolution and shows how these pieces collectively gave visual form to the idea of India as secular, heterogeneous, international, and united. A valuable examination of the ways artistic expression can preserve and advance its cultural heritage, this volume captures an exciting time in India's art history"--Back cover.