The Triumph of Modernism. India’s Artists and the Avant-garde, 1922–1947

Taking the 1922 Bauhaus exhibition in Calcutta as the debut of European modernism in India, “The Triumph of Modernism” probes the intricate interplay of Western modernism and Indian nationalism in the evolution of colonial‑era Indian art. Partha Mitter casts his gaze across a myriad of issues, including the emergence of a feminine voice in Indian art, the decline of “oriental art,” and the rise of naturalism and modernism in the 1920s. Nationalist politics also played a large role, from the struggle of artists in reconciling Indian nationalism with imperial patronage of the arts to the relationship between primitivism and modernism in Indian art. An engagingly written study anchored by 150 lush reproductions, “The Triumph of Modernism” will be essential reading for scholars of art, British studies, and Indian history.