The evolution of printmaking practices in India. Snipped from http://www.artindiamag.com/issue01_06/pre_lead_assay01.html Printmaking as an art form emerged in India less than eighty years ago. However, printing, in which lie the origins of contemporary printmaking, came to India in 1556, about a hundred years after Gutenberg's Bible. Calcutta, the capital of British India, was the hub of printing and publishing in colonial times. While European printing establishments were at the helm of all printing activities in India, the need for manpower gradually drew in Indian participants. The printed picture, in the form of the book illustration, developed in early 19th century British India. European printmakers in 18th century India remained entirely disconnected from mainstream, indigenous printing activity since they had little or nothing in common with Indian culture and tradition. Their prints depicted exotic Indian landscapes that tended to appeal mainly to the colonial European sensibility. With the growing interest in vernacular literatures arose an increasing demand for book illustrations; this, in turn, led to the gradual emergence of an indigenous printing industry. From 1816 onwards, hundreds of illustrated books were printed in Calcutta and its environs by indigenous presses that sprang up in the bazaars. The hitherto anonymous Indian printmaker gradually began to evolve as an 'artist'. In the mid-19th century, art schools were established in different cities in the country, and a new breed of 'gentlemen' artists with Western sensibilities, came into prominence. They established print studios (the Calcutta Art Studio, for instance) that emulated European academic art tenets. ====================== ----- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India