Ernest Binfield Havell (16 September 1861 – 31 December 1934), who published under the name E.B. Havell, was an influential English

arts administrator The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both h ...

art historian Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today, ...

and author of numerous books about

Indian art Indian art consists of a variety of art forms, including Indian painting, painting, sculpture in the Indian subcontinent, sculpture, Indian pottery, pottery, and textile arts such as Silk in the Indian subcontinent#Origin, woven silk. Geographica ...

and

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...

. He was a member of the

Havell family The Havell family of Reading, Berkshire, England, included a number of notable engravers, etchers and painters, as well as writers, publishers, educators, and musicians. In particular, members of this family were among the foremost practitioners ...

of artists and art educators. He was the principal of the Government School of Art, Calcutta from 1896 to 1905, where, along with

Abanindranath Tagore Abanindranath Tagore ( Bengali: অবনীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 August 1871 – 5 December 1951) was the principal artist and creator of the "Indian Society of Oriental Art". He was also the first major exponent of Sw ...

, he developed a style of art and art education based on Indian rather than Western models, which led to the foundation of the

Bengal school of art The Bengal School of Art, commonly referred as Bengal School, was an art movement and a style of Indian painting that originated in Bengal, primarily Kolkata and Shantiniketan, and flourished throughout the Indian subcontinent, during the Britis ...

Early life

Ernest was born at Jesse Terrace,

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spell ...

in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

county of

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Ber ...

in 1861, the son of an artist Charles Richard Havell and his wife, Charlotte Amelia Lord. The family had several artists and publishers. He went to Reading School and learned art at the Royal College of Art and in Paris and Italy.

Art history

In India, Havell initially served the Madras School of Art as Superintendent for a decade from 1884. He arrived Calcutta on 5 July 1896 and joined as Superintendent of the Government School of Art, Calcutta next day. In between, he went to England for a year from April 1902 to March 1903. While in England, he published two valuable articles on Indian art in the October 1902 and January 1903 issues of a well known art journal of London, ''The Studio''. In January 1906 he left for England on long leave and finally in 1908, he was removed from the post.Bagal, Jogesh Chandra (1966). ''History of the Govt. College of Art and Craft'' in the ''Centenary: Government College of Art & Craft, Calcutta'', Calcutta: Government College of Art & Craft, pp.21–34 Havell worked with

to redefine Indian art education. He established the Indian Society of Oriental Art, which sought to adapt British art education in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

so as to reject the previous emphasis placed on European traditions in favour of revivals of native Indian styles of art, in particular the Mughal miniature tradition. He published several books on Indian art including ''Indian Sculpture and Painting'' (1908) and ''The Ideals of Indian Art'' (1911). He was involved in founding the

India Society The Royal India Society was a 20th-century British learned society concerned with India. The Society has had several names: the India Society (founded 1910); the Royal India Society (from 1944); the Royal India and Pakistan Society; the Royal Indi ...

along with

William Rothenstein Sir William Rothenstein (29 January 1872 – 14 February 1945) was an English painter, printmaker, draughtsman, lecturer, and writer on art. Emerging during the early 1890s, Rothenstein continued to make art right up until his death. Though he c ...

in 1910 as a reaction to negative remarks made by Sir George Birdwood on Indian art.

Personal life

He married Angelique Wilhelmina Jacobsen, daughter of a Danish navy officer in 1895 at St Giles, London, Middlesex, England. The couple had a daughter, Sonia Joyce Havell in 1902.Descendants of Luke Havell
/ref> He died at the Acland Nursing Home in Oxford.

Works

Havell wrote numerous books on Indian art and history, including: * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Notes

External links

* *
Indian Architecture, Its Psychology, Structure, and History from the First Muhannadan Invasion to the Present Day on Architexturez South Asia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Havell, Ernest Binfield 1861 births 1934 deaths English Indologists British people in colonial India English art historians English architecture writers English art critics British arts administrators People from Reading, Berkshire British art teachers