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Chandigarh: Remembering BN Goswamy, the man who put ‘wonder’ in wonderment
Panjab University hosted an event to commemorate art historian BN Goswamy, who passed way in November 2023
A connoisseur of classical Indian dance, a historian and a diverse group of students were all scrambling for a seat at Panjab University’s (PU) Law Auditorium on Tuesday.
The thread tying them together was admiration of one man, BN Goswamy and his life’s work.
The varsity’s department of art history and visual arts hosted an event commemorating Goswamy, an art historian and the department’s founding chairperson, who passed away in November last year.
The event began with addresses from department chairperson Jagtej Kaur Grewal and PU vice-chancellor (V-C) Renu Vig, both hailing Goswamy’s lasting impact on not just the department and its students, but the world of art and painting at large.
Malavika Sarukkai, a Bharatanatyam dancer and Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee, took the stage next and spoke in solemn tone of her long and winding association with Goswami and his family.
The artiste met Goswamy and his wife Karuna, a fellow academic and historian, at an event in Mumbai and formed an instant connection as they bonded over their shared love for the fine arts.
Encouraged by Goswami, Sarukkai choreographed performances that doubled as visual illustrations for his lectures on miniature paintings.
“He would pull listeners into his world with his words, making observers out of non-observers,” Sarukkai said as she presented an evocative Bharatanatyam piece on “lalita lavanga”, which she likened to Goswamy’s “bustling” and “verdant” description of miniature paintings celebrating the arrival of spring.
“There was a wonderment in Goswamy’s words,” she said at the end of the performance.
Wonderment indeed was the theme of the night as William Dalrymple, the Delhi-based Scottish historian who called Goswamy his mentor and dear friend, would agree.
“Art makes what is invisible visible,” Dalrymple said quoting Goswamy, or BNG, as he affectionately called him. “And BNG was an agent who made you wonder, wonder about the artist and the intricacies of each brushstroke,” he added.
The Scot noted that before Goswamy, the scholarship of art was limited to the final product. “It was BNG who took us into the workshops of the unnamed artists,” he said while hailing Goswamy’s 1968 article, Pahari Painting: The Family as the Basis of Style as a watershed moment for art history.
“Goswamy has put down his pen forever, but has left a rich legacy behind,” Dalrymple said, encouraging those in the audience to revisit his work whenever they can and take his ideas forward.
