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Vol-1, XX1X
THE NEGLECTED ASPECTS OF....
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change in art tradition reflects changes in artist's material and artist's technique along with other things. Each art tradition has, therefore, its own expression, truth and value.
Style represents external significant characteristic feature of any work of art. As manifested externally, style is the expression of personality of an artist and also of a school of art. The external stylistic elements and features do, in fact, go a long way in constituting the fundamental of art historical studies in India. Based on significant stylistic features, the historians of art render their classification of works of art historically with reference to their chronological and geographical continuum.
Fairly exact dating can be assigned to a painting of high quality having definite characteristic of authenticity. But uncertainty of definite dating based on stylistic criteria increases with paintings of decreasing quality and such paintings pose critical problems to art-historians. Stylistic aspects can be imitated exactly by clever fakers and unscrupulous forgers who can copy external elements, namely motifs, style, form, colour, even writings on paintings with the help of specialized modern techniques of imitation. Many faked Indian miniature paintings have been assigned to early date, early style, early school simply because of the presence of well-known stylistic feature and antique appearance externally. Even eminent arthistorians and Indologists have been deceived by skillful unscrupulous art dealers who had passed faked paintings as genuine to art purchase committees of important museums of India in the past.
Painting art, along with its expression of consciousness of society, reflects the progress in the field of science and technology attained at the time of art creation. Paint technology of ancient India is directly connected with the creation of painting art. Art historical studies will remain obviously incomplete without the knowledge and awareness of artist's material and artist's technique.
INTERNAL CHARACTERISTICS
In the era of science and technology, scholars and researchers are no longer satisfied with the information and knowledge about artistic and cultural aspects alone. They are equally eager to know as much as possible about artist's material and artist's technique;' and also technical progress in the field of ancient paint technology through the study of minitature painting art of India
