Forgotten Masters focuses on restoring to art history the paintings and the forgotten names of the artists in India who worked for British government officials during the 18th and 19th centuries. Although the text suggests a mostly benevolent relationship between the artists and their patrons, the goal of reclaiming the names of at least some of the artists works to right one colonial wrong.

The book is based on an exhibition of the same title at the Wallace Collection, a museum in a historical house in London, Hertford House. The historian William Dalrymple curated the exhibit and edited the book.

Each of the book’s six chapters is accompanied by essays by one or two specialists in Indian art. Of particular interest to Miller Library readers is the section on “Indian Export Art? The botanical drawings,” with an essay by H.J. Nolte. He writes he had more than 7,000 botanical drawings to choose from, in just four British collections, plus many more in private hands. The Indian artists were shown examples of European botanical drawings and instructed to copy them. They were very successful. Nolte makes clear throughout that the paintings retain some qualities of the techniques the artists had learned previously in various Indian locations. One early example, Trapa natans (p. 83), by an unknown artist, shows more of these techniques than others in the book with its two-dimensional presentation and near symmetrical arrangement. Others, such as Spray of Green Mangoes (p. 86), by Bhawani Das, and A Cobra Lily (p. 87), by Vishnupersaud, display a crisp, representational style.

The variety of subjects makes this book particularly impressive, all elegant reproductions in the coffee-table-sized book. Paintings of animals and birds, portraits of individuals and groups of both Indians and British, drawings of buildings (including the Taj Mahal) -- the book shows many aspects of Indian life at the time. And it is all a delight to look at.

I find myself dwelling in the in-between states, transfixed by the processes that mirror the fleetingness of life. Nature is a sanctuary, a muse, and media in my work.

As Rene Magritte said, “Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see.” My work is an invitation to slow down and see what is hidden. 

Maja Sereda's work will be on display in the Miller Library June 3-27. Meet the artist at a reception June 8 from noon to 2 pm.

The Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries (CBHL), of which the Miller Library is a long-standing member, announced its twenty-fifth Annual Literature Awards on May 7, 2024 in East Lansing, Michigan. These awards, created to recognize significant contributions to the literature of botany and horticulture, honored six remarkable works this year.

CBHL members nominated 40 books for consideration this year. Two of the winners were nominated by Miller Library staff members: Laura Blumhagen nominated My Indigo World and Brian Thompson nominated A Curious Herbal.