Vision of India in the Works of Russian and Soviet Artists (An Old and Rare Book)

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THIS ILLUSTRATED edition is about artists, Russian and Soviet, who have created a portrait of India.

Why are their works so interesting to us? Every nation has a unique history and culture of its own The Soviet "art gallery of India" depicts a variety of characters, customs and traditions of a great nation with an exciting history and a unique culture.

India's past, present and future can be compared to a magnificent edifice that is perpetually being erected, with its garbhagriba and jagamoban halls already completed and its shikbara growing taller as the centuries go by, to be crowned with amalaka in the distant future.

It can be imagined that another edifice is being erected next to the first one. Its tall platform and steep arch were completed long ago, but still to be built are slim minarets and a light, seemingly weightless dome.

History can be immortalized in stone as well as in other materials. All the events of the past and present have been depicted in chronicles, painting and sculpture. Nowadays they are also portrayed in photographs and films.

But no one art can take the place of another, for each one has its own story to tell and its own beauty to create.

Why is the India created by pre-revolutionary Russian and Soviet artists so dear to us? Mainly because its every brush-stroke and chiselled line is unique and inimitable.

Besides, over the last one and a half centuries since the first Russian artist painted India, man and his views have undergone many changes, as has the manner of presenting the world and the angles from which it is portrayed.

There have been many periods in the history of art during these years which were sometimes marked by painful search for form and technique. No other period prior to the end of the nineteenth century had had such a succession of idols created overnight and just as quickly discarded. In the turmoil of events art often found itself on the verge of self-denunciation, and the people portrayed in such periods were reduced to mere symbols. It was a worldwide process, which was slower or faster depending on the part of the world.

The purpose of this preface is not to trace the historical roots of every artistic trend or to discuss in detail its ideological or philosophical foundations. I am more interested in whether any other school of art but realism could have created such an artistic narrative, such a collective image of a specific historical period or a portrait of our history-making con- temporaries. The one hundred and fifty-year history of various Russian and Soviet artists' fascination with India speaks for itself. During this entire period realism has remained a prevailing trend because a realist is more likely to create a true portrait of a nation at any given period and to pass this on to future generations. This is a claim that cannot be made by cubists or abstractionists, or even by neorealists or surrealists.