Brijinder Nath Goswamy is an Indian art critic, art historian and a former

vice chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...

of the Sarabhai Foundation of Ahmedabad, which runs the

Calico Museum of Textiles The Calico Museum of Textiles is located in the city of Ahmedabad in the state of Gujarat in western India. The museum is managed by the Sarabhai Foundation. History The museum was founded in 1949 by the enterprising siblings Gautam Sarabhai ...

. Goswamy is best known for his scholarship on

Pahari painting Pahari painting (literally meaning a painting from the mountainous regions: ''pahar'' means a mountain in Hindi) is an umbrella term used for a form of Indian painting, done mostly in miniature forms, originating from Himalayan hill kingdoms ...

and Indian miniature paintings. He is the author of over 20 books on arts and culture, including ''Sakti Burman: A Private Universe'', a monograph on the life and works of Sakti Burman, renowned Bengali painter and ''Masters of Indian Painting 1100-1900'', a treatise on Indian miniature art. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian award of the

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

in 1998 and followed it up with the third highest honour of the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

in 2008.

Biography

Goswamy was born on 15 August 1933 at

Sargodha Sargodha (Punjabi and ur, ) is a city and capital of Sargodha Division, located in Punjab province, Pakistan. It is Pakistan's 12th largest city by population and one of the fastest-growing cities of the country. Sargodha is also known as t ...

of the Punjab province (presently in Pakistan) of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, to B.L. Goswamy, a District and Sessions Judge. After the early schooling at various schools in the province, he did his intermediate studies at the Hindu College, Amritsar and secured his master's degree from

Punjab University, Chandigarh Panjab University (PU) is a collegiate public state university located in Chandigarh, Punjab. Funded through both State and Union governments, it is considered a state university. It traces its origins to the University of the Punjab in Laho ...

in 1954. He joined the

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. Considered the premier civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the Indian ...

in 1956 and after working in the Bihar cadre for two years, he resigned from the service in 1958 to continue his studies in art. He returned to Punjab University and did research on

Kangra painting Kangra painting (Hindi: कांगड़ा चित्रकारी) is the pictorial art of Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, Kangra, named after the Kangra State, a former princely state of Himachal Pradesh, which patronized the art. It became p ...

and its social backdrop, under the guidance of the renowned historian, Hari Ram Gupta, to obtain a doctoral degree (PhD) in 1961. It is reported that his examiners were

Arthur Llewellyn Basham Arthur Llewellyn Basham (24 May 1914 – 27 January 1986) was a noted historian, Indologist and author of a number of books. As a Professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London in the 1950s and the 1960s, he taught a number of fa ...

, the Indologist, and the art critic, W.G. Archer. During the course of his research, he joined Punjab University as a member of its faculty of Art History, where he would spend his entire career and eventually superannuate as a professor. While working there, he took a break and worked as a visiting professor at the South Asian Institute of the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

from 1973 till 1981. He also served as a visiting professor at various other international universities such as California, Berkeley,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

and Zurich. At Punjab University, he developed the Museum of Fine Arts, as its director, and the museum holds 1200 creations of contemporary Indian art. Besides his academic career, he served as the vice chairman of the

Centre for Cultural Resources and Training The Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT) is autonomous organisation under Ministry of Culture of Government of India. Established in May 1979, to support cultural education, with its inception ...

(CCRT), a nodal agency under the Government of India providing training to educators who are involved in educational programmes on Indian culture. He has been a member of the Governing Committee of the

Indian Council of Historical Research The Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) is a captive body of the Ministry of Education, Government of India established by an Administrative Order. The body has provided financial assistance to historians and scholars through fellowshi ...

(ICHR) and has chaired the Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi. Goswamy is married to Karuna, an art historian, academic, and a former professor of Punjab University. The couple has one son and one daughter, Apurva and Malavika. He lives in

Chandigarh Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which a ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Legacy

Goswamy is considered by many as one of the most prominent scholars of Indian miniature painting. He is known to have specialised knowledge of

, a genre of traditional miniature painting originated in the hills of

Punjab region Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

. His 1968 article, ''Pahari Painting: The Family as the Basis of Style'', is a study of this genre, where he is reported to have been successful in unearthing the genealogy of renowned miniaturists such as Pandit Seu,

Nainsukh Nainsukh (literally "Joy of the Eyes"; c. 1710 – 1778) was an Indian painter. He was the younger son of the painter Pandit Seu and, like his older brother Manaku of Guler, was an important practitioner of Pahari painting, and has been c ...

and

Manaku Manaku of Guler or Manaku (c. 1700–1760) was an Indian painter from the Guler State, in modern-day Himachal Pradesh. After his death he was mostly forgotten and overshadowed by his much-celebrated younger brother Nainsukh. But today he is recog ...

. He published five books on this topic, ''Nainsukh of Guler: A Great Indian Painter from a Small Hill-State'', ''Pahari Masters: Court Painters of Northern India'' ''Painters at the Sikh Court'', ''Essence of Indian Art'' and ''Masters of Indian Painting 1100-1900''. Collaborating with Eberhard Fischer, the

winning Swiss-based German art historian and the co-author of a few of his books, he has staged a series of shows, under the title, ''Wonder of the Age'', in many parts of the world. His work, ''The Spirit of Indian Painting: Close Encounters with 101 Great Works, 1100-1900'' is a treatise on selected creations from Jain manuscripts to Indian miniatures. He has published 20 books to date, apart from several articles he has published in Indian and international journals and magazines. ''A Jainesque Sultanate Shahnama and the context of pre-Mughal painting in India'', ''A Place Apart: Painting in Kutch, 1720-1820'', ''Painted visions: The Goenka collection of Indian paintings'', ''Ranga Roopa Gods, Words, Images'', ''The Word is Sacred, Sacred is the Word: The Indian Manuscript Tradition'', ''Domains of Wonder: Selected Masterworks of Indian Painting'' and ''I See No Stranger: Sikh Early Art and Devotion'', are some of his other notable books. ''A Layered World'' is a 40,000-word audio-visual presentation prepared by Goswamy for Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi. He also writes a regular column in

The Tribune ''The Tribune'' or ''Tribune'' is the name of various newspapers: United States Daily California *'' Oakland Tribune'' * ''The Tribune'' (San Luis Obispo) *''San Gabriel Valley Tribune'' Indiana *'' Kokomo Tribune'' *'' Peru Tribune'' * ''The Tri ...

, titled ''Art n Soul'' and delivers keynote addresses and lectures, in India and abroad.

Awards and honours

When Goswamy retired from his academic career, Punjab University made him the Emeritus Professor. He held the

Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship The Jawaharlal Nehru Trust Scholarship U.K. was founded by Admiral Lord Mountbatten of Burma in 1966 as a tribute to the India's first Prime Minister – Jawaharlal Nehru – after his death in 1964. The scholarship was funded by the Nehru M ...

from 1969 to 1970 and the Sarabhai Fellowship in 1994. He was also a Mellon Senior Fellow of the

National Humanities Center The National Humanities Center (NHC) is an independent institute for advanced study in the humanities. The NHC operates as a privately incorporated nonprofit and is not part of any university or federal agency. The center was planned under the auspi ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

. The Government of India awarded him the civilian honour of the

in 1998. He was again included in the Republic Day Honours list in 2008, this time for the third highest honour of the

Selected bibliography

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References

External links