Art historian, curator, author, public speaker and teacher... all these descriptions fit Dr. B. N. Goswamy perfectly. Professor Emeritus of Art History at Punjab University, where he has taught for eight decades, Dr. Goswamy has co-curated major exhibitions of Indian art at the world’s leading museums, including the path-breaking exhibition Masters of Indian Painting at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2008.
Recently, he brought out another book, ‘The Spirit of Indian Painting: Close Encounters with 101 Great Works, 1100-1900,’ which has been sourced from about 40 museums and private collections in the world. He has written several other tomes such as ‘The Word is Sacred, Sacred Is The Word: The Indian Manuscript tradition’ and ‘Pahari Masters: Court Paintings of North India (with Eberhard Fischer), all great research material for students and art lovers alike. Chennai’s very own historian is Chithra Madhavan, a post-Doctoral Fellow, Indian Council of Historical Research, who loves to talk about temples and the cultural renaissance in South India. When she is pouring over books for her research, Chithra is happy to share her knowledge with like-minded people by giving talks or organising history walks. She has written books such as ‘Sanskrit Education and Literature in Ancient and Mediaeval Tamil Nadu: An Epigraphical Study’ and ‘History and Culture of Tamil Nadu: v.1 (upto c. AD 1310).
The two historians met up during Dr. Goswamy’s recent visit to the city and Chithra asked the questions. Excerpts:
Since many themes in murals and sculptures are based on regional variations of epics, is it necessary to know local traditions and languages to appreciate them better?
Regional variations are very important. While locals may have an advantage in understanding a painting or a sculpture better because of knowledge of local traditions, an art-historian not acquainted with these may find it difficult. An art historian has to work very hard. He has to be a composite being – hawk, ant, camel and peacock. Like a hawk, he has to be alert and swoop down to catch a point; he has to have the industry of an ant; the memory of a camel to connect various pieces of information; and like a peacock to spread one’s wings and to enjoy art!
You are well-versed in Sanskrit and Urdu. Do you think knowledge of languages is important for a better understanding of art history?
It may not be critical, but it certainly helps. According to an Urdu poet, ‘Words are like little flowers and according to the powers of a poet, they either open or close.’ For example, an image of Varaha rescuing Bhu Devi will mean more to a person who is acquainted with the Puranas which state when Varaha rescues Bhu Devi from the depths of the ocean with the tusks, she whispers in his ear, ‘You have rescued me many times before, have you not?’
Is there any information available about the painters and sculptors of the past?
There is very little information available on this subject. Some names have come down to us but not much about the artists. I have travelled extensively for three years in India tracking down artists of the past and found information about them from the records of the pandas (priests). The pandas keep registers called Bahi on paper about family trees which are a fund of information. It is investigative work and armed with this information, I have written books. One such record of the pandas which I went through in detail contained information about a painter called Nainsukh. He has written nine lines about himself in his own handwriting with all the details about himself. He belonged to a place called Guler in the Pahadi area (Himachal Pradesh) and lived between c.1710 and 1778. This record even contains a small sketch by this artist. It is an excellent work, although very small. It is of Siva with Parvati on a leopard skin. Ganga flows out from Siva’s locks and Bhagiratha, the devotee, stands with palms pressed together in prayer near Siva. I have written a book ‘Nainsukh of Guler: A Great Indian Painter from a Small Hill State’ which was published in Artibus Asiae, Rietberg in 1997. It is the only book to be written on any one painter of the past. I am currently working on finding information about Nainsuk’s elder brother Manaku. There was an exhibition in Rietberg Museum, Zurich on ‘Masters of Indian Painting’ and later in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, accompanying which a two-volume catalogue, spanning 800 years of Indian painting containing 240 masterpieces by 40 artists of which I was one of the editors was published in 2011.
Do you have any personal favourites as far as paintings are concerned?
I quote a Bengali proverb here, ‘In a forest of bamboos, the bamboo-cutter becomes blind – he does not know which to cut and which to leave.’
How do we instil a sense of pride and appreciation of art in lay people and students?
They must be taught to understand art and if they understand it, they will feel a sense of pride. If they see it cursorily, nothing will happen. The teachers and parents should have a role in this. School children are taken to museums on tours and they absorb nothing. Even if only a few art objects are explained in detail, it will be more useful to the students. The people taking the students to a museum must do their homework well – to be able to explain the artefacts to the students in detail.
Is there a break with continuity as far as traditional artists are concerned?
The skills are still there. There are some remarkable painters from traditional families. There are family traditions among painters and these traditions are the basis of style. But indeed, many times, there is a break with tradition. There is not much conviction in their work today. It does not come from within. They focus on what will sell.
Other than museums and protected areas, paintings and other art objects are subject to vandalism. Any comments?
Murals are getting ruined by people scratching their names on them. Vandalism is rampant. The scale of what we need to do to prevent this is massive. There is very little conviction in what we are doing in this regard to protect the paintings.
You have travelled the world over teaching and lecturing. But, you have chosen to stay and teach in India…
There has been no dearth of offers from the finest institutions abroad. I am happy to go out, but always happy to come back to India.
How do you foresee the future of art-history in India?
A whole generation of venerable art-historians has disappeared. There are not many serious art-historians coming up in India. People are now more into the realm of theory, not aesthetics. Visually, we are not very literate. We don’t linger over art. It is important that we spend time on a piece of visual art.
Any message to students of art history?
Be a hawk, ant, camel and peacock!
