MARG Magazine Archive Collection
Get access
Please turn on javascript to view the Document Entry.
Title:
Volume 07 - Issue 2
Date:
1954
Table of contents:
- p. 2-7: Goetz, Hermann, Problems of Art Display [Editorial] | Most of the existing museums lack up-to-date equipment and space for an ideal display. The idea of reconstructing the original milieu of exhibits – so that they can be understood in the context of the civilization or culture which produced them -- is neither practical nor desirable. A monograph or museum handbook, which can impart the more intimate background to an art object is most advisable. It is essential to discover common elements between the original setting and our own by a rhythmic grouping in a simple architectural framework, and keeping in mind the specific civilizations to be shown. The colour scheme needs to be in harmony with the exhibits. These technical and aesthetic considerations must be founded upon the judgement, study, and scientific research work of the museum curator.
- p. 8-22: Fabri, Charles, Mathura of the Gods | After a review of studies on the Mathura "school" of sculpture, the writer examines the various influences which gave rise to Mathura art, and identifies the characteristics of Mathura art per se. As evidenced by sculptural and inscriptional finds, Mathura was a sacred and religious place for ages, and truly a "city of gods". Consequently, its art was essentially religious, and mass-produced to satisfy the pilgrim's desire for souvenirs. This led to copies of (earlier) characteristic images, which travelled to various regions in trade. This naturally curtailed the originality of the stone-carvers, as illustrated by several examples of mass-produced images of the Buddha, Mahavira, Bodhisattvas, and yakshis.
- p. 23-31: Anand, Mulk Raj, Painting under the Sikhs | Painting under the Sikh rulers of Punjab was mainly an extension of Rajput painting of the Kangra school carried out by Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh artists, and not the product of a distinctive Sikh kalam. The tradition became hybrid after its arrival in Lahore: there was an exaggerated emphasis on personality in the portraiture and absence of the deeper lyrical feeling immanent in Kangra art, and the flood of European miniature portraits reduced the art to a bazar style. Under the Sikh court, the original impulse of hill painting changes: epics, myths, and legends on the walls of temples and houses in Kangra and surrounding hills give way to a formalist pattern. The portraits (particularly of the Sikh gurus) show a diminishing vigour, although scenes of the darbar, domestic life, and mythological subjects retained a certain virility, as in the painting, "Signature of the Treaty of Lahore" (1846). The rapid degeneration of painting under the Sikhs is an object lesson in the attitude towards tradition that must be adopted to inherit the old impulse in a new age. Now, with the same disruptive forces of passing old beliefs under the impact of alien norms still at work, a new social order alone can release the latent genius of our people.
- p. 32-44: Palsikar, Mohan B. Samant, Studies in the Development of Three Contemporaries - Laxman Pai, S.B. | Profiled here are three painters and their works.
- p. 49-61: Tyrwhitt, Jacqueline, Nanda, Gulzarilal, Fayazuddin, Patel, C.B., Special Supplement: Low Cost Housing Exhibition | A report on the international low cost housing exhibition held in Delhi is followed by sections on problems of planning; practical plans for housing the masses; special approach to rural housing; main requirements in house design; and a note on Dexion, a new construction material.
- p. 62-63: Some Indian Postage Stamps: Saint-Poet, Poet Series | A brief printing history of Indian stamps from 1854 to 1951 -- and some of the series depicting national and international events -- is followed by reproductions of the Saint-Poet and Poet series showing Kabir, Tulsidas, Meera, Surdas, Ghalib, and Tagore.