Historian B N Goswami passes away
Chandigarh: Chandigarh-based Brijinder Nath Goswami, an internationally acclaimed art historian and expert on miniature painting, known for his pioneering work on Pahari painting, died on Friday after prolonged illness.
A recipient of Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awards, 90-year-old Goswami, fondly called BNG in the art world, has written over 26 books.
A former civil servant who left the services in 1958 to devote himself to academics and research, Goswami took keen interest in the social background of the painters of Kangra and traveled to far-flung areas of Himachal Pradesh to gain a better understanding of it. Spent a lot of time in villages. Artists who make mountain paintings.
Learning the Takri Pahari script, he began to focus on family styles, paying detailed attention to technique, narratives and composition.
“All my life I have tried to bring the painter out of obscurity. I want him in the front row. He should be in the headlines. But how can one do this? Isn’t art anonymous?
“Sadly, there is no proper documentation, the artist appears like a firefly in the dark. We must look into the mind of the artist, recognize his processes, develop respect and understand.
“Then, we come to know about the sociological and cultural facts of that era. You see, an art historian must be a mixture of a camel, a hawk, an ant and a peacock. He should have the memory of a camel, the eye of an eagle, be as industrious as an ant and learn to enjoy art like a peacock. After all, this is not botanical science, right?” he said.
His ‘Wonder of the Ages, Master Painters of India, 1100-1900’, an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, showed the world a new dimension of Indian art.
For someone who taught himself the Pahari script to gain a thorough understanding of the work he was doing, he always felt that it was important for a teacher and researcher to go out into the field, read, study, with the people. Talking and learning new things is paramount. Languages, and understand your roots.
Always emphasizing the need for collection and preservation, his last lecture was held on October 26 in Chandigarh on his latest book, ‘The India Cat: Stories, Paintings, Poetry and Proverb’.
Delving into the stories of Panchatantra, Jataka, Katha Sarita Sagar, he created a picture of how cats were viewed in India and how they found an important place in Indian art.
