The studies presented here are not prefaces in the sense that they introduce the reader to particular texts or monographs. These are in the nature of lectures on the most important aspects of South Asian art, both ancient and modern. There are more abstract themes such as on the study of Indian Art and the relation between Art and Education. One is on Indo-Persian poetry, depicting the classical heritage, as well as an essay on Jamini Roy, surely one of the first
to be written in the artist's lifetime, celebrating a genius who provided a technical link between mughal miniatures and Chughtai art. Suhrawardy contributes two lectures on the theatre, on e of the nature of theatrical art and one on the modern European stage; themes that were elusive to all but a
handful of the initiated. From the theatre he passes on to his contemporary writers in Europe. These lectures have not been only the means of invigorating the cultural scene of India, they also recall the times when Calcutta was the hub of Indian cultural activity. Shahid Suhrawardy was a scholar who, through these lectures, established Art criticism on a sound footing in academia as well as in the world of Art. These lectures are still interesting and instructive, and both the cultural
historian and the educationist continue to gain insight from it.