Prefaces: Lectures on art subjects - Hardcover

Suhrawrdy, Shahid

9780195476712: Prefaces: Lectures on art subjects

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195476719 ISBN 13: 9780195476712

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2009

The studies presented here are not prefaces in the sense that they introduce the reader to particular texts or monographs. These are in the nature of lectures on the most important aspects of South Asian art, both ancient and modern. There are more abstract themes such as on the study of Indian Art and the relation between Art and Education. One is on Indo-Persian poetry, depicting the classical heritage, as well as an essay on Jamini Roy, surely one of the first to be written in the artist's lifetime, celebrating a genius who provided a technical link between mughal miniatures and Chughtai art. Suhrawardy contributes two lectures on the theatre, on e of the nature of theatrical art and one on the modern European stage; themes that were elusive to all but a handful of the initiated. From the theatre he passes on to his contemporary writers in Europe. These lectures have not been only the means of invigorating the cultural scene of India, they also recall the times when Calcutta was the hub of Indian cultural activity. Shahid Suhrawardy was a scholar who, through these lectures, established Art criticism on a sound footing in academia as well as in the world of Art. These lectures are still interesting and instructive, and both the cultural historian and the educationist continue to gain insight from this collection.

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About the Author:

Shahid Suhrawrdy (1890-1965) was an educationist, writer, art-critic and diplomat. He obtained the BA (Hons) degree in English from Calcutta University in 1910. In 1914, he graduated again from Oxford University. He earned name and fame for studying abroad and for his literary works. While overseas, he acquired deep knowledge about the ancient and modern art. Shahid Suhrawardy became acquainted with leading international art-specialists while (1926-29) he was working as a member of the Producers' Committee at Moscow Art Theatre and when he served as the editor of Fine Art Section of the League of Nations in Paris. He was also associated with editing of a quarterly journal on Byzantian art published from Prague. When he returned home, Usmania University of Hydrabad commissioned him to write an introductory book on Islamic art of different countries of the world. Later, he came to Visva-Bharati at Rabindranath Tagore's invitation and researched on Iranian art in Santiniketan as the Nizam Professor. Shahid Suhrawardy earned fame as the Professor of Vageshvari Comparative Art at Calcutta University during 1932-43. Other works by him worth mentioning are The Art of Jamini Ray, Musalman Culture, A Handbook of Musalman Art, Musalman Art in Spain etc. The first of these books is a pioneering work of art-criticism written in a lucid style. He is also known to have written a book on cookery. Shahid Suhrawardy was a member of the Bengal Public Service Commission during 1943-46. He was active as a member of the Federal Public Service Commission of Pakistan till 1952. He served as a guest lecturer of Islamic Art at Columbia University, New York in 1953. At that time a new mansion for UNESCO was built in Paris and a selection committee was formed with international art-specialists to decorate it in a befitting manner with artwork. Shahid Suhrawardy was a member of this committee. He also worked as a diplomat. He was an ambassador of Pakistan to Spain, Morocco, Tunisia and the Vatican from 1954 onwards.. He was proficient in many eastern and western languages. Shahid Suhrawardy was the Founder President of Pakistan PEN, a sister organisation of the International Writers' Guild. His anthology titled Essays in Verse of his work was published in 1962 from Dhaka. It included the poems he had written during his stay at Oxford and works that he had published in different English and American literary journals. His poems embody the spirit of the different avant-garde poetic movements of Europe. The book itself is divided into three parts: New Poems, Early Poems and An Oldman's Songs, which reflect elegant and tender thoughts .

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