The longlist for the third Oxford Bookstore Art Book Prize was announced on the same evening the Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize winner was revealed on 4 April 2025.
Alka Pande, jury chair, museum curator, art historian and author; May-Elin Stener, ambassador of Norway to India, Sri Lanka and Bhutan; and Sunaina Anand, founder and director, Art Alive Gallery, unveiled the 11-longlisted book titles that were recognized for their artistic composition and overall design by the jury panel.
Instituted in collaboration with Visual Arts Gallery in 2022, the Oxford Bookstore Art Book Prize is said to be India’s only prize that recognizes the value of art in all genres under the umbrella of an art publication. The jury for the third edition of the Oxford Bookstore Art Book Prize includes May-Elin Stener; director of the Apeejay Surrendra Group and the creative force behind Oxford Bookstores, Priti Paul; Alka Pande; director general of Bihar Museum, Anjani Kumar Singh; founder and director, Art Alive Gallery, Sunaina Anand and director, Institutional Affairs and Outreach, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), Apurva Kackar.
Alka Pande began with William Morris’ quote “I began printing books with the hope of producing some which would have a definite claim to beauty, while at the same time they should be easy to read and should not dazzle the eye.”
“The written word instructs the ear, the image instructs the eye. While the image speaks silently and makes the absent present, it teaches without words and reminds without reading,” she continued. Pande talked about Bibles from the early Christian Byzantine era that she found “absolutely stunning, studded with precious stones and the lavish use of gold” that reminded her of some of the illuminated manuscripts in India. She shared having a similar moment with a Buddhist manuscript.
Pande shared, “I found that Gold was a universal language when we looked at anything sacred, when we looked at anything beautiful. The longlisted art books have a lavish and luxurious use of colors and gold (color paint).”
May-Elin Stener said art books have the power to hold time still – to capture moments, emotions, and ideas in ink and paper. “The art books not only reflect the vision of the artist but also of the reader. Going through these art books has added to my knowledge and learning about India. For Norway, freedom of expression and artistic creativity is the cornerstone of our values.”
A prize bringing art books into the forefront is very important because over the last fifteen years, we noticed that there is a lot more work happening and many more art galleries are getting into publishing books, Sunaina Anand said. “The appreciation for art books is important because it will inspire many other authors, artists, and art galleries to document art.”
The longlist
Colours of Devotion: The Legendary Paintings and Textiles of Vallabha Sampradaya 1500-1900 by Anita Bharat Shah, published by Niyogi Books
Baby Knows Best by Shilarna Vaze, published by HarperCollins
F N Souza: The Archetypal Artist by Janeita Singh, published by Niyogi Books
Meditations on Trees by Ompal Sansanwal, published by Aleph Book Company
One Pot by Kavita Chopra Dikshit, published by Delhi Blue Pottery Trust
Whose Ramayana Is It Anyway? by Natasha Sarkar, published by Mapin Publishing
A Thousand Shadows, self-published by author Navin Sakhuja
Kali: Reverence & Rebellion by Gayatri Sinha, published by DAG (Delhi Art Gallery)
Delhi Durbar: Empire, Display and the Possession by Swapna Liddle and Rana Safvi, published by DAG (Delhi Art Gallery)
The Babu & the Bazaar: Art from 19th and Early 20th Century Bengal by Aditi Nath Sarkar with Shatadeep, published by DAG (Delhi Art Gallery)
Raza: The Other Modern by Geeti Sen, Gayatri Sinha, Yashodhara Dalmia and Ashok Vajpeyi, published by Mapin Publishing
