Vishnu
Hinduism's Blue-Skinned SaviorVishnu—one of Hinduism’s most important and powerful deities—is the great Preserver, vanquishing those who seek to destroy the balance of the universe. "the multiplicity and grandeur to be found in this exhibition lie not only in the many forms of Vishnu but also in the many voices that explain, celebrate, and wonder over those forms."—Asian Art Newspaper
The legends of Vishnu have inspired some of the greatest art, literature, and ritual traditions in India. This catalogue examines the many faces of Vishnu and the ways that the god has been represented, from antiquity to the present.
Essays by noted historians of South Asian art delve deeply into the regional and sectarian traditions of Vishnu worship in India. Illustrations and discussions of almost 200 works of art, in a wide range of media and borrowed from collections across the North Atlantic, reveal the rich diversity of India’s art and religious culture.
Joan Cummins, the exhibition’s curator and catalogue editor, is the Lisa and Bernard Selz Curator of Asian Art at the Brooklyn Museum. She is author of Indian Painting: From Cave Temples to the Colonial Period in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and a coauthor of Realms of Heroism: Indian Paintings at the Brooklyn Museum.
Doris Meth Srinivasan is a scholar of Indian art and history who has published extensively on Hindu iconography and early religious art. She was recently a visiting scholar at the Center for Indian Studies, Stony Brook University.
Leslie Orr is an Associate Professor in the Department of Religion at Concordia University, Montreal. She has published widely on religion and women in south India, including the book Donors, Devotees and Daughters of God: Temple Women in Medieval Tamilnadu.
Cynthia Packert is a Professor and the Chair of the Department of History of Art and Architecture at Middlebury College. She has just published a book on The Art of Loving Krishna: Ornamentation and Devotion.
Neeraja Poddar is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University, New York City.
MULTIPLICITY AND GRANDEUR An Introduction to Vishnu
BECOMING VISHNU
VISHNU’S MANIFESTATIONS
IN THE TAMIL COUNTRY
NETWORKS OF DEVOTION
The Art and Practice of Vaishnavism in Western India
The Image of Vishnu
The Avatars of Vishnu
The Worship of Vishnu
Suggested Reading
| ISBN | 9788189995485 |
| Pages | 296 |
| Number of illustrations | 236 color and black-and-white illustrations |
| Size | 10 x 11.5" (254 x 292 mm), hc |
| Date of Publishing | 2011 |
| Language(s) | English |
| Co-publisher(s) | Mapin in association with Frist Center for the Visual Arts |
| Rights Available | World rights |
—Asian Art Newspaper