Ajanta Frescoes

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About the Book This book contained that Ajanta is the great surviving monument of the painting created by the Buddhist faith and fervor in the land which gave birth to that religion. The paintings of Ajanta represents the pinnacle of an ancient tradition, even the earliest among them is marked by the refinement of style and technique. In the copies here reproduced Lady Herringham and her able lieutenants have been successful, through their perception of this characteristic of the Ajanta paintings, int conveying a great deal of the passion and energy of the original forms.

About the Author Christiana Jane Herringham, Lady Herringham (1852-1929) was a British artist, copyist, and art patron. She is noted for her part in establishing the National Art Collections Fund in 1903 to help preserve Britain's artistic heritage. In 1910 Walter Sickert wrote of her as "the most useful and authoritative critic living".In 1906, the Herringhams made a trip to India.Christiana subsequently became involved in the promotion of Indian art in the UK through her friendship with William Rothenstein. She was also on good terms with Ananda Coomaraswamy, interested in promoting Indian art in the United Kingdom but otherwise rather isolated. Ernest Havell and Rothenstein formed the India Society and Herringham joined the. committee, the only female member of it at the time. The Society would often meet at her home at 40 Wimpole Street in London.Herringham travelled to India again in 1911, and made copies of the Buddhist cave paintings at Ajanta near Hyderabad, which had deteriorated. Among the visitors who observed her work was William Rothenstein. An exhibition of the copies opened at the Crystal Palace in London in June 1911. Following the formation of the Society, Herringham returned to the Ajanta caves with Rothenstein. She set up a camp with the help of the Nizam of Hyderabad, and with several artists (including Dorothy Larcher) set about copying the frescoes.

Preface Is this volume Lady Herringham's copies of some of the paintings in the caves of Ajanta situated on the northern border of Hyderabad, Deccan, are reproduced on behalf of the India Society. whose property they are. The pictures, which are in full scale, are at present exhibited at the Indian Section of the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington. They were presented to the Society in 1912, and were first shown at the Festival of Empire Exhibition held at the Crystal Palace in that year. For that occasion Lady Herringham compiled the account which now appears below her name, and to which is added a note by Miss Larcher, who worked with her.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages