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INDIA INK - Book Released on 20th April 2000

India Ink is a collection of letters written by Martha McKee Keehn during this period. It also includes the story of the Keehn family collection of modern Indian art, as well as reproductions of a number of paintings and other works from the collection.

The book INDIA INK was born in the early post-independence years 1953 – 54. It was an optimistic, creative time in India.

The cover of INDIA INK is an image of Martha McKee Keehn from a family portrait by M.F.Husain in 1959. The Keehns lived in India from 1953 to 1961.

Thomas B. Keehn, his wife Martha and two children arrived in 1953. He represented a U.S. non-profit organization – the American International Association for Economic and Social Development – established by Nelson A. Rockefeller. Activities focused on marketing of Indian handicrafts and supervised credit for small farmers. Projects were developed in collaboration with the Indian Cooperative Union headed by Kamaladevi Chattapadhya and Executive Director Lakshmi C. Jain.

A third program initiative was to become involved in the emerging modern art movement in India. Modern art was an enduring interest of Mr. Rockefeller who was a major supporter of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Martha Keehn, in inveterate letter writer, wrote many letters to family and friends in the U.S. during the eight years they lived in India. The letters reported such things as the birth of four children in India, travel to many parts of the country, connections with  Indian friends and visitors from abroad. The Keehn family was “at home” in India.

A very close friend was Welthy Fisher, founder of Literacy House in Lucknow and World Education in the U.S. Tom and Martha worked with World Education for many years after returning to the U.S. from India. During this time, they often discussed “doing something” with the letters Martha had written from India. Two events in the mid 1990’s led to the production of INDIA INK. 

In 1995, for the first time, modern Indian paintings were included in art auctions in New York, London and elsewhere. The Keehn family collection of modern art from their India years consisted of works by M.F. Husain, Ram Kumar, Krishen Khanna, V.S. Gaitonde and others. It was a small but important collection of early paintings by these now well-known artists.. 

In April 1996, Martha Keehn died in New York, a cancer victim. Tom Keehn revisited India in the next two years to reflect and develop new priorities. In conversations with Arun Vadehra a plan developed: combine Martha’s letters with the family collection of modern Indian art in a book called INDIA INK – Martha’s chosen title – published by the Vadehra Art Gallery.

On April 20, 2000 the book is being released at the India International Centre in New Delhi. It will be distributed here, in the U.S. and elsewhere. The Title page, Contents and jacket cover of INDIA INK are attached. Copies of the book will be available at the India International Centre  launch.