Flying Spirits: Temple of Durga

This present work is from a series of drawings that Piper made as illustrations for the book India Love Poems, 1977, containing Meary J Tambimuttu's translations of Indian verse. Piper wrote, 'The illustrations, to use musical analogies, are variations, rhapsodies or inventions on sculpture and paintings in Indian temples of the Golden Age, from the VI century to the XIII. They are not intended to be representational of the form or colour of the works themselves but are affected by the spirit and purpose of them, and often by particular poses.' Piper never visited India, and must have been inspired by photographs or other artists' representations of the original sculptures.

S.L.