Cave Art: The First Paintings

How did art begin? Where did colour come from, before paints in tubes and bottles? Taking a long step back in history, this book explores how the world’s first artists may have tried their hand on the very first canvases — the walls of rocks and caves. Arising more from artistic imagination than archaeology, this story of art unfolds with photographs of the ancient paintings at the Bhimbetka Caves in Madhya Pradesh alongside creative reproductions of rock art.

“Cave Art, the latest book in this series, does a fabulous job of not just sharing historical facts, but also touching upon several related topics such as the origins of art, sociology, communication, religion and belief and the ever amazing human imagination. The book follows an unusual story telling style that can be compared to the reader undertaking a journey of interesting discoveries, along with the author, artist and photographer, rolled into one. The best part is that the question and answer format has a very encouraging, collaborative tone throughout the book. Never does the author pretend to be an expert and that makes the script so much more credible. The coloured visuals, some effectively spanning two pages, beautifully complement the text – which is free of jargon and not burdened by information.” – Saffron Tree

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