There are hardly any artists painting today who have the strength of technique and breadth of vision that Bhupen Khakhar enjoy. Despite being partly recognised in Britain (the BBC commisioned him to paint Salman Rushdie's portrait - a work called "The Moor", the Tate have examples of his work, and he has had gallery shows in the Cork Street area) he remains an artist whose works have ben very different to access. Timothy Hyman, a personal friend of Khakhar's and an artist himself, does everyone interested in painting an incredibly valuable service by making available a book which includes a history, an intelligent discussion, and lavish illustrations of the relevant part of Khakhar's work. For Bhupen Khakhar's work only became outstanding when he began to make reference to his homosexuality in his 50s and as he acknowledged it and as he continues to discuss it. In India homosexulaity is illegal and despite Bombay's (and nearby Baroda - Khakhar's home) position as epicentre of liberal, Western-orientated, gay friendly India any Indian of Khakhar's generation was bound to suffer even worse torment than their Western equivalents. But rather than using this torture to produce a teriffying vision of the world as meat (a la Bacon) he celebrates it. He has been called the Indian Hockney, but the innate spirituality which saturates the Indian creative arts - as, for example that very diiferent Indian artist whose work is so adored in the West, Anish Kapoor - raises Kharkhar's work to another level making it work for all time. Khakhar's work never suffers so unduly from its innate beauty as Hockney's work can suffer and the end is a joyous celebration, an uplifting experience of successful synthesis colour, form, and subject never bogged down by 20th century Western criticism. By not treating Khakhar's work with the respect we give to Hockney and Freud we deny ourselves the opportunity to chart the vision of an artist as great as Freud, with as great a faith in art, but with an outlook that is fundamentally humane. A codicil: Khakhar must be ranked close to the top of contemporary figurative watercolourists, higher than Dumas and certainly Fischl. As an oil painter he is perhaps inferior to Freud but to no one else.

This is a beautifully written book about a wonderful contemporary painter who bridges East and West. I would recommend it highly to anyone interested in modern art, the artistic process or Indian art and culture.