B.N. Goswamy - The Spirit of Indian Painting: Close Encounters with 101 Great Works 1100-1900

Professor Goswamys book meets a long-felt need. In all the years that I have been involved with Indian art I have repeatedly been asked to recommend a book which covers the whole subject. This is it. This is it. This is it SIR HOWARD HODGKIN

With his thoughtful selections and wonderful writing Professor Goswamy makes us first of all see and understand; and then, understand and see. Quietlywithout insistencehe leads us to gaze upon now an orchid, now a lotus bloom; fragrant roses and eye-filling narcissi. There is more than spirit in this introduction: there is deep knowledge and gentle passion. All this, and finallyand above alla book to make both layman and connoisseur alike realize why pre-modern Indian painting is one of the great arts of the world NEIL MACGREGOR

A tour de force! B.N. Goswamy brings to this remarkable publication the insights of a connoisseur, a rasika, with the erudition of a discerning scholar... He unravels these [paintings] one by one and layer by layer to reveal not only their intrinsic beauty but the historical circumstances which shaped them.... A delightful addition to the vast oeuvre of an art historian par excellence, this book serves to engage and open the eyes of the viewer to the incredible visual wonders hidden within these rare gems of art GULAMMOHAMMED SHEIKH

B.N. Goswamy is probably Indias most admired art historian. He combines the eye of the aesthete, the discrimination of a connoisseur and the soul of a poet with the rigorous mind of a scholar and the elegant prose of a gifted writer. The Spirit of Indian Painting is the summation of a lifetimes loving dedication to his subject. It may well be his most beautiful and is certainly his most heartfelt work WILLIAM DALRYMPLE

This is a remarkable book by a great art historian and critic. B.N. Goswamys work has a broader significance in matters of art and what he has to say is applicable not only to classical Indian art and miniature painting but to a great deal of art being executed today... He writes eloquently on the many aspects which manifest themselves gradually and combine to yield a lasting sense of delight... Such is the power of art and the elements which comprise it KRISHEN KHANNA

No one knows more about Indian painting than B.N. Goswamy, and in The Spirit of Indian Painting he shares a lifetime of knowledge and insights in a lucidly written text and on a captivating selection of paintings. From Mughal India to the Deccan and Rajput courts and beyond, Goswamy provides ways of seeing and reading Indian paintings that are unparalleled GLENN LOWRY

Close to half a century ago, it was B.N. Goswamy who revolutionized our perception of Indian paintings, taking these miniatures not simply as decorative items produced for some royal patrons fancy, but as master-works in their own right, in the process restoring to the artist the honour that belonged to him. He taught us to see with greater clarity, revealed to us things that lay hidden behind small and seemingly simple surfaces. The astonishing thing is thatas The Spirit of Indian Painting establisheshe continues to do so even now, tirelessly and in his inimitable voice EBERHARD FISCHER

Drawing from a life of immense learning and experience, B.N. Goswamy has created a book wholly accessible to the general reader, yet essential for the specialist. In A Layered World, he explores why certain pictures are great, showing us how to look closely at images that for many will be unfamiliar. But he also wants the reader to understand the lives out of which these images emerged, and why those lives are important. His ability to relate the work of artists to the world around themto religions, literatures, historical events, social situationsis unrivalled. This is the best possible introduction to the richly varied traditions of painting in India MILO BEACH

for little Madhav who is all spirit, all light

a Layered World

There are things, some of them passing strange, that happen when you confront a work of art: (i) unfolding of the heart; (ii) its expansion; (iii) its agitation; and, finally, (iv) vibration.

From a reading of Kavyartha

I

I ndian paintings have been variously described: as layered objects in which one thing, or thought, is gently laid upon another; like schist rocks, foliated and iridescent; like a couplet in Persian or a doha in Hindi, terse but meaningful; like a great floral carpet that lies rolled up but can be spread out endlessly, revealing new things with each mellow unfurling.

Each description is seductive, and contains much truth. They are also in their different ways saying a single thinga painting presents to us a layered world of meaning. One needs to, thus, make an effort to receive from it all the riches that reside within. We must first summon utsahaenergy, enthusiasm, the excitement of anticipation. Then we need to make what can only be described as a visual immersion in the work. Thereon much can be expectedthe joy of discovery, stimulus to reflection, visual excitement and, finally, heightened delight.

To attain delight one must then learn to read a painting. To begin with oddly, to be sure, for this book is about paintinga relatively small south Indian bronze of c. fourteenth century, that the noted art historian Stella Kramrisch called The Tree of Life and Knowledge. There is allure in the form: a tree with a slender, straight trunk from which curving branches issue forth with symmetry and evenness, first dipping low as if borne down by their weight and then rising slightly at the bud-like tips. Each branch is connected to the one above or below it by carefully spaced single, flame-like leaves, creating a latticework effect. In the centre of the trees crown sits a curled naga with many hoods. Just below the naga, but also set against the trunk is a layered, ribbed disc, looking like the solid wheel of a chariot.

Lower down stand two crowned monkey figures, clinging to the trunk but each with one hand raised, a wondering finger to the lips. And at the base two small cows, one on either side, flank the trunk. Higher up, almost merging with the swelling bud-tips, sit small hamsa figures at the very edge of the branches, as if weightless, their upraised tails brushing against the buds.

It takes a while to take in the form in its entirety, and its grace and sophistication. Then one begins to wonder what the figures on the tree stand for. What did the maker of this bronze have in mind? Is the mythical many-hooded