B. N. Goswamy, distinguished art historian, was Professor Emeritus of Art History at the Panjab University, Chandigarh. His work covered a wide range and was regarded, especially in the area of Indian painting, as having influenced much thinking. Important paradigm shifts and a number of significant discoveries have marked his work over the years.
Prof. Goswamy had been the recipient of many honours, including the Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship, the John D. Rockefeller Fellowship, the Rietberg Award for Outstanding Research in Art History, the Mellon Senior Fellowship, the Tagore National Fellowship and, from the President of India, the Padma Shri (1998) and the Padma Bhushan (2008). He has taught, as Visiting Professor, at several universities across the world, and has also been responsible for major exhibitions of Indian art in Paris, San Francisco, Zurich, San Diego, New York, Frankfurt, and New Delhi.
He was the author of over twenty-five highly acclaimed books on Indian art and culture, including, among others, Pahari Masters: Court Painters of Northern India (1992), Nainsukh of Guler: A Great Indian Painter from a Small Hill State (1997), The Spirit of Indian Painting: Close Encounters with 101 Great Works, 1100-1900 (2014), Manaku of Guler: Another Great Indian Painter from a Small Hill State (2017) and, most recently, Conversations:India’s Leading Art Historian Engages with 101 Themes and More (2022).
Prof. Goswamy’s book, The Indian Cat, which explores the motif of the cat in Indian culture, is represented by A Suitable Agency and was published in 2023 by Aleph Book Company. Read reviews of the book here.