India, May 16 -- On April 1, 2026, a Raja Ravi Varma painting made national headlines when it sold for a staggering Rs.167 crore after an intense bidding war at auction. Raja Ravi Varma is one of the nine artists declared navratnas or the nine gems of Indian art, whose works are considered national treasures. Rather strikingly, the list is not fully representative of the pan-Indian art scene, as six of the nine are from Bengal. With such a dominance of the Bengal School, there has been a dearth of research on artists from the Bombay and Madras schools, who played an equally important role in shaping the artistic landscape of early-20th-century India. Rao Bahadur MV Dhurandhar: A Painter from the Bombay School of Art by historian Sandeep Dahisarkar fills this gap in India's art history. It traces the life and work of Mahadeo V Dhurandhar (1867-1944), whose paintings, sketches and post-card illustrations played a significant role in shaping the visual culture of early-20th-century western India. While not as high-profile as Raja Ravi Varma, his paintings and prints of Hindu deities as well as historical figures such as the warrior-king Shivaji helped shape the imaginations of millions at a time when the question "What does it mean to be Indian?" was being actively debated. With the help of documents, photographs, and a wide range of paintings drawn from diverse sources, the author pieces together the story of an artist in a changing India. Born in the princely state of Kolhapur in 1867, Dhurandhar studied at Bombay's Sir JJ School of Art and became the first Indian to be awarded the Bombay Art Society's coveted Gold Medal, in 1895, while still a student. He would go on to achieve great heights, winning several gold medals, painting murals at the Chhota Udepur Palace and the secretariat in the newly built imperial capital of New Delhi, and enjoying the patronage of princely states such as Aundh and Baroda. Through his long career, he was supported by his wife, Gangubai Dhurandhar, and his daughter Ambika Dhurandhar, also a talented artist. He left behind a large body of work that has remained under-appreciated for decades. It is this rich collection of paintings that lies at the heart of Dahisarkar's book and makes it a visual treat. Bringing together works from private collections, museums and archives must have been a gargantuan task, which the author has successfully accomplished. Family photographs, rare records and everyday postcards take the book beyond the realm of a conventional art history volume. Every detail is meticulously researched and referenced. What I found particularly helpful was the simple timeline of Dhurandhar's life in the appendices, which perhaps serves as a "spine" for the entire book. What strikes the reader, especially one from Maharashtra, is the extensive documentation of Maharashtrian society at a time when "Maharashtra" as a linguistic state existed only as an idea. Dhurandhar's depictions of deities such as Vitthala of Pandharpur, Marathi weddings and rituals, and icons such as Shivaji and his daughter-in-law Tarabai, travelled across cities and villages through prints and postcards. This helped create a shared visual imagination that played an important role in shaping what came to be known as Maharashtra Dharma or the "Idea of Maharashtra". This makes Dahisarkar's book even more powerful, as it appears at a time when Maharashtrian society is once again grappling with questions of identity. This book is a valuable addition to art history literature in India. Hopefully, the author will also bring out an affordable monograph easily accessible to students and general readers....