Art N Soul
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There is remarkable richness of imagery and while the scientific nature of the visualisations in books such as those in the copy of the Mir’at al Nujum (‘Mirror of Astronomy’) that Prof. B.N. Goswamy came across at a bookstore during one of his travels. He believes that the volume, and others of…
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Analysing two paintings on the nine rasas of Krishna’s leelas, Prof. B.N. Goswamy is fascinated by how how two different painters—separated by more than a century and a half of time and by hundreds of miles—not only turning to the same poetic text and thus bonding together, but bringing their own…
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This is what transpires when a young London-based painter gets drawn towards Indian miniature paintings. Prof. B.N. Goswamy delights in his respect for the Indian tradition in Jethro Buck’s work, but also an impish desire to toss things around a bit, or, gravely, to involve the viewer in the act of…
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Vajrayana—the ‘Diamond Path’—the most commonly practised form of Buddhism in the Himalayan region is essentially esoteric and very hard for anyone from the outside to access. The range and the variety of images alone are staggering, writes Prof. B.N. Goswamy. Colour, direction, stance, weapons,…
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With 6,050 individual photographs, contained in 105 albums and some loose prints, and 1,941 glass plate negatives containing 2,008 images, Sawai Ram Singh II of Jaipur deservedly carries the reputation of having been a ‘Photographer Prince’. Prof. B.N. Goswamy writes about the royal’s passion for…
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During a trip to the Salarjung Museum in Hyderabad, Prof. B.N. Goswamy was shown a most sumptuous-looking edition of one of the great classics of English literature—even if it is essentially a translation—Edward FitzGerald’s rendering of the ‘Rubai’yat of Omar Khayyam’. Here he writes about how…
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Vrindavan Vastra is a 400-year-old traditional textile from Assam, woven with the theme of Krishna’s various exploits. Prof. B.N. Goswamy traces the travels a particular piece from Assam to Tibet to London; from a Vaishnava setting to a Buddhist monastery; from being a hanging filled with ‘monsters…
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The Bhagavad-Gita, one knows, is not an easy text to ‘illustrate’, for it is essentially philosophical in nature, filled with complex and abstruse thoughts. However, in the volume, ‘La Bhagavadgita illustree par la Peinture Indienne’, the editor and publisher draw upon a host of images that lead…
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There are many books and listings of fantastic architectures around the world, unfortunately, not many mention the Indian Nek Chand, writes Prof B.N. Goswamy. His Rock Garden in Chandigarh is as much a testament of architectural fantasy as Antonio Gaudi or Simon Rodia. (In pic: A display at the…
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A book authoured by Dr Horst Metzger, the distinguished collector of Indian art, and Maharao Brijraj Singh of Kota gives an insight into life in the Kota kingdom from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries through paintings, writes Prof. B.N. Goswamy. (Photo courtesy: LA County Museum/Wikimedia…
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