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Ruminations

Ruminations

101 & more short essays on the spirit of Indian art

B.N. Goswamy
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A pioneer who brought out the poetry in art’—Mint Lounge

B.N. Goswamy (1933–2023), one of the most eminent art historians of our times, put India’s art on the global map. His lucid interpretation of art made the subject accessible to a wider audience. He was a master chronicler who offered ‘slight sketches of large subjects’.

Ruminations, Goswamy’s last work of, rues the vanishing traces of artisans’ guilds in Europe, celebrates the illustrations to La Fontaine’s fables produced in Lahore, opens a window to the Jain legend of Ilaputra who was driven to the edge of renunciation, explores the pioneering map of the world drawn by the Turkish admiral, Piri Reis, admires the dazzling range of embroideries in the Calico Museum, chronicles the ensigns of royalty that belong to the Mughal period, brings to light Timurid kitab-khanas, the Tibetan sand-mandalas and much more.

Lucid, comprehensive and engaging, Ruminations is a the most definitive primer on art in India and South Asia.

Imprint: India Allen Lane

Published: Oct/2024

ISBN: 9780143464556

Length : 568 Pages

MRP : ₹1299.00

Ruminations

101 & more short essays on the spirit of Indian art

B.N. Goswamy

A pioneer who brought out the poetry in art’—Mint Lounge

B.N. Goswamy (1933–2023), one of the most eminent art historians of our times, put India’s art on the global map. His lucid interpretation of art made the subject accessible to a wider audience. He was a master chronicler who offered ‘slight sketches of large subjects’.

Ruminations, Goswamy’s last work of, rues the vanishing traces of artisans’ guilds in Europe, celebrates the illustrations to La Fontaine’s fables produced in Lahore, opens a window to the Jain legend of Ilaputra who was driven to the edge of renunciation, explores the pioneering map of the world drawn by the Turkish admiral, Piri Reis, admires the dazzling range of embroideries in the Calico Museum, chronicles the ensigns of royalty that belong to the Mughal period, brings to light Timurid kitab-khanas, the Tibetan sand-mandalas and much more.

Lucid, comprehensive and engaging, Ruminations is a the most definitive primer on art in India and South Asia.

Buying Options
Paperback / Hardback

B.N. Goswamy

B.N. Goswamy (1933-2023), distinguished art historian, was Professor Emeritus of Art History at the Panjab University, Chandigarh. His work covers a wide range and is regarded, especially in Indian painting, as having influenced much thinking. He has been the recipient of many honours, including the Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship, the Rietberg Award for Outstanding Research in Art History, the JDR III Fellowship, the Mellon Senior Fellowship and, from the President of India, the Padma Shri (1998) and the Padma Bhushan (2008). Apart from the Panjab University, Professor Goswamy has taught, as Visiting Professor, at major universities across the world, including Heidelberg, Pennsylvania, University of California, Berkeley, University of California, Los Angeles, Austin and Zurich. He has been responsible for significant exhibitions of Indian art at international venues, including Paris, San Francisco, Zurich, New Delhi, San Diego and New York. He is the author of over 25 books on Indian art and culture, including: Pahari Painting: The Family as the Basis of Style (1968); Painters at the Sikh Court (1975); A Place Apart: Paintings from Kutch (with A.L. Dallapiccola; 1983); The Essence of Indian Art (1986); Wonders of a Golden Age: Painting at the Court of the Great Mughals (with E. Fischer; 1987); Pahari Masters: Court Painters of Northern India (with E. Fischer; 1992); Indian Costumes in the Calico Museum of Textiles (1993); Nainsukh of Guler: A Great Indian Painter from a Small Hill State (1997); and Domains of Wonder: Selected Masterworks of Indian Painting (with C. Smith; 2005); and, more recently, The Spirit of Indian Painting: Close Encounters with 101 Great Works (2014 and 2016); Manaku of Guler: Another Great Indian painter from a Small Hill State (2017); Oxford Readings in Indian Art (2018); The Great Mysore Bhagavata (2019); Conversations: India's Leading Art Histo: India's Leading Art Historian Engages with 101 themes, and More (2022) and The Indian Cat: Stories, Paintings, Poetry, and Proverbs (2024).

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