A Collection Of Sacred Art
Anila Verghese
Thanjavur’s Gilded Gods: South Indian Paintings In The Kuldip Singh Collection by Anna L. Dallapiccola, Kuldip Singh and R.G. Singh Marg Publications, Mumbai, 2018, 180 pp., 2800
August 2018, volume 42, No 8

Thanjavur’s Gilded Gods is a beautifully illustrated volume on the Thanjavur and its allied Mysuru schools of painting, with twelve meticulously researched papers that provide a wealth of information and new insights. The volume is based on the paintings in the private collection of Kuldip Singh.

In the first chapter, Nayanjot Lahiri introduces the reader to the collector, Kuldip Singh, a professional architect who began collecting Thanjavur paintings 40 years ago, and who, since his first two nearly accidental acquisitions, became interested in this school of art. In the next chapter, Kuldip Singh himself provides an overview of Thanjavur and Mysuru paintings, describing how they were executed, the range of themes covered, the patrons of such paintings, the purposes for which they were commissioned and how these paintings were transformed into icons for ritual worship. Thanjavur’s Gilded Gods is a beautifully illustrated volume on the Thanjavur and its allied Mysuru schools of painting, with twelve meticulously researched papers that provide a wealth of information and new insights. The volume is based on the paintings in the private collection of Kuldip Singh.

In the first chapter, Nayanjot Lahiri introduces the reader to the collector, Kuldip Singh, a professional architect who began collecting Thanjavur paintings 40 years ago, and who, since his first two nearly accidental acquisitions, became interested in this school of art. In the next chapter, Kuldip Singh himself provides an overview of Thanjavur and Mysuru paintings, describing how they were executed, the range of themes covered, the patrons of such paintings, the purposes for which they were commissioned and how these paintings were transformed into icons for ritual worship.

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