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Geeta Kapur, Contemporary Indian Art: An Exhibition of the Festival of India, London: Royal Academy of Arts, 1982

100 pages, 7-page introduction by Geeta Kapur. 44 artists covered. Each given 2-page space with portrait, 1 or 2 illustrations and biography; card covers
9.25 x 8.25 in (23.5 x 21 cm)

This lot is accompanied by two original offset-printed exhibition posters issued with the show designed by Gopi Gajwani, printed by Thomson Press. Poster featuring Gulam Mohammed Sheikh's Returning Home. Another poster featuring Jagdish Swaminathan's Untitled (Mountain & Bird)

These 2 posters are now scarce and considered collectible ephemera in their own right. Both are offset-printed on medium-weight paper, each measuring approximately 30 x 20 in (76 x 51 cm).

This important catalogue accompanied one of the most comprehensive exhibitions of modern and contemporary Indian art held in the West during the 20th century. Organized as part of the Festival of India, the exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts introduced the breadth of post-Independence Indian art to a British audience, showcasing works by pioneering modernists and emerging voices alike.

The catalogue included curatorial and scholarly essays by Richard Bartholomew, Geeta Kapur, Ebrahim Alkazi, and others. Artist biographies and statements. Colour and monochrome reproductions of paintings, sculptures, drawings, and prints. Contextual essays on artistic movements and institutions in post-1947 India

Artists featured: M F Husain, F N Souza, S H Raza, Ram Kumar, V S Gaitonde, Tyeb Mehta, Gieve Patel, Arpita Singh, Nalini Malani, Bhupen Khakhar, Gulam Mohammed Sheikh, Jagdish Swaminathan, and others.

A rare complete set including both original exhibition posters, this offering is significant for collectors and institutions interested in the global reception of Indian modernism and in the cultural diplomacy of the 1980s.