Percy Brown (1872–1955) was a renowned British scholar, artist, art critic, historian and archaeologist, well known as an author on

Indian architecture Indian architecture is rooted in the History of India, history, Culture of India, culture, and Indian religions, religion of India. Among several architectural styles and traditions, the best-known include the many varieties of Hindu temple a ...

and

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

, especially for his studies on

Greco-Bactrian The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom () was a Greek state of the Hellenistic period located in Central-South Asia. The kingdom was founded by the Seleucid satrap Diodotus I Soter in about 256 BC, and continued to dominate Central Asia until its fall a ...

art.

Life and career

Brown was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

in 1872. He began his studies at a local art school and then studied at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...

, where he graduated in 1898. He was part of the

Indian Education Service The Indian Education Service or Indian Educational Service (IES) formed part of the British Raj between 1896 and 1924, when overseas recruitment ceased. It was an administrative organisation running educational establishments in British India, larg ...

for 28 years, from 1899 until 1927. He became principal of the Mayo School of Arts (today the National College of Arts) in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

and

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

of the

Lahore Museum The Lahore Museum (; ) is a museum located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Founded in 1865 at a smaller location and opened in 1894 at its current location on The Mall in Lahore during the British colonial period, Lahore Museum is Pakistan's larg ...

. In 1909, he left

to be succeeded in the position of principal of the Mayo School of Arts by Ram Singh, who held this post until 1913. The same year, he became the principal of the Government School of Art in

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

. He retired in 1927 and became secretary and

of the Victoria Memorial Hall in Kolkata. He held the post until 1947 after which he spent his remaining days in Srinagar.

Notable works

Brown was one of the first writers to have concentrated exclusively on Indian and Buddhist architecture. He wrote several important books on architecture and art, including the two-volume ''Indian Architecture'' (Volume I: ''Buddhist and Hindu Periods'' and Volume II: ''Islamic Period'') in 1940. Other notable works of his include ''A descriptive guide to the Department of archaeology & antiquities'' (1908), ''Picturesque Nepal'' (1912), ''Indian painting'' (1918), and ''Tours in Sikhim and the Darjeeling District'' (1922).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Percy Academics from Birmingham, West Midlands 1872 births 1955 deaths Indian art historians British art educators British Indologists Alumni of the Royal College of Art British art historians British architectural historians British art critics British curators People associated with the Victoria and Albert Museum Indian Education Service officers Newar studies scholars Academics from Lahore Principals of the National College of Arts Historians of Indian art