Description

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A truly enjoyable and informative read. The chapters, from Coomaraswamy’s childhood and burgeoning interest in art, through his swadeshi days, his crusading work in England, his scholarship and work as the keeper of Indian art in Boston, his relations with the female sex, his critical and creative output and the varied revaluations of his life and works, make for a very well-rounded image of the “human” who was touched by the “superhuman.” Dr Pal employs a methodology that is natural to him but that is difficult and is among the cutting-edge approaches of contemporary scholarship – I mean participatory research using autoethnography. He does this naturally because he looks for a personal connection with his theme and discusses it in a seamless fashion in his research. In this case, it is even more appropriate since Dr Pal succeeded Coomaraswamy in his office at the MFA Boston. The way in which he braids his personal interactions and practical knowledge into the life of Coomaraswamy in Boston, illuminating details and making significant comparisons, is a study in how a personal voice can enrich one's subject rather than drown it in insignificance.   Dr Debashish Banerji
Haridas Chaudhuri Professor of Indian Philosophies and Cultures
and Doshi Professor of Asian Art
California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), San Francisco
 

About the Author

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Dr. Pratapaditya Pal was born in Bangladesh, grew up in Kolkata, India and has lived in the United States since 1967. He completed his doctorate in Fine Arts and History from the University of Calcutta with a special focus on Nepal. In 1962, he received the Commonwealth Scholarship of Cambridge to do his second Ph.D. on Nepalese art.

In 1967, Dr. Pal moved to the U.S. and took a curatorial position as the "Keeper of the Indian Collection" at the renowned Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. In 1970, he joined the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and was there until he retired.

Dr. Pal has written over 60 books on Asian art, with a sample of titles including, "Art of the Himalayas: Treasures from Nepal and Tibet" (1992), "The Peaceful Liberators: Jain Art from India" (1999), and "The Arts of Kashmir" (2008). He has written over 200 papers on Asian Art. Dr. Pal is also a 2009 recipient of the Padma Shri Award, which is India's fourth highest civilian honor, for his extraordinary contribution to the sphere of art.

Dr. Pal was, until recently, the general editor of Marg Publications, a leading Indian nonprofit art publication.