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India Today

CURRENT ISSUE MAY 14, 2007

SOCIETY & THE ARTS: BOOKS

The Lost Master

The artist finally gets his due in this lavish publication.

By S. Kalidas

ILLUSION AND REALITY: D.G. KULKARNI, MASTER PAINTER, SCULPTOR AND CARTOONIST
By ASHA NATH
Price: Not listed Pages: 226

As the contemporary art market booms, art publications are bound to proliferate. While few mainstream publishers have ventured into this market with any seriousness, it has been left to artists, art galleries and corporate entities to sponsor lavish publications in this highly visible yet niche subject. With all its successes and failings, the book under review epitomises the phenomenon.

Had it not been for Asha Nath and her parents, freedom fighter, artist and teacher D.G. Kulkarni might not have found place in the documented annals of Indian art. Undoubtedly, it is due to their passionate espousal of his cause that his body of work now finds permanent homes and his memory lies enshrined in this well-printed publication sponsored by Larsen and Toubro (L&T). Henning Holck-Larsen, one of the founders of L&T, was a great patron of Indian art. So it is entirely in keeping with L&T’s corporate ethos that the company supported this effort.

The best pages of the book are those given to glorious reproductions of Kulkarni’s diverse opus. Kulkarni painted in an eclectic mix of styles and his paintings stand out for their unpretentious sincerity of purpose, deft handling of form and line, and a vibrant use of colour. He worked in a range of mediums from watercolours and oils to stone sculpture and cartoons. The latter provided him with a livelihood at a time when living by art alone was not easy. A lesser known precursor of R.K. Laxman, he first introduced Srijut, a humble character that bore an uncanny resemblance to The Times of India’s ‘common man’. As a piece of writing, Nath’s effusive prose is informative at best and self-consciously cloying at other times.

TOP 10 BESTSELLERS

A monthly national list of bestselling books compiled for INDIA TODAY by ORG-MARG based on data from 15 retail outlets in six cities.

FICTION

NO. TITLE AUTHOR PUBLISHER

1. (1) The Inheritance of Loss Kiran Desai Penguin

2. (5) The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini Penguin

3. (6) Like the Flowing River Paulo Coelho HarperCollins

4. (-) The Namesake Jhumpa Lahiri HarperCollins

5. (3) Shantaram Gregory David Roberts Penguin

NON-FICTION

NO. TITLE AUTHOR PUBLISHER

1. (3) The Innocent Man John Grisham Arrow

2. (1) In Spite of the Gods Edward Luce Penguin

3. (20) The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari Robin S. Sharma Jaico

4. (5) Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found Suketu Mehta Penguin

5. (-) The Indians: Portrait of a People Sudhir Kakar and Katharina Kakar Penguin

OTHER INDIAN BOOKS IN THE TOP 20

FICTION

NO. TITLE AUTHOR PUBLISHER

6. (-) Above Average Amitabha Bagchi HarperCollins

8. (-) Five Point Someone: What Not to Do at IIT Chetan Bhagat Rupa

11. (-) One Night @ the Call Centre Chetan Bhagat Rupa

12. (-) That Summer in Paris Abha Dawesar Random House

NON-FICTION

NO. TITLE AUTHOR PUBLISHER

6. (4) Mohandas: A True Story: of a Man, his People and an Empire Rajmohan Gandhi Penguin

8. (-) Dhirubhaism A.G. Krishnamurthy Tata McGraw-Hill

9. (-) The Greatness Guide Robin S. Sharma Jaico

10. (-) Men of Steel Vir Sanghvi Roli

Last month’s rating in brackets
Participating bookshops: Delhi: Om Book Shop, Faqir Chand, Teksons, Full Circle; Mumbai: Crossword, Shah Book Stall, Danai Book Shop; Bangalore: Fountainhead, Gangarams; Hyderabad: Walden Book Link, The Book Point; Kolkata: Oxford Books, Modern Book Depot, Family Book Shop; Chennai: Fountainhead

Index

India Today


CURRENT ISSUE MAY 14, 2007

IN THIS ISSUE
	COVER STORY

	The Kiss Of Death The Tyranny Of Morality
	OTHER STORIES
	Licence to Kill Battle Of Attrition Set For Grand Finale Promise of Change Luring Capital into God’s Own Country Scam Again Tigers New Claws Asking For More The New Science Of Botox How We Won the Cup The Juggernaut Rolls On Spoof Operators Book Your Pages For The Summer The Lost Master Raiders Of The Lost Art

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