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An Approach to Indian ArtAuthor(s): Ananda K. CoomaraswamySource: Parnassus, Vol. 7, No. 7 (Dec., 1935), pp. 17-20Published by: College Art Association
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7/21/2019 A.K. Coomaraswamy - An Approach to Indian Art
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AN
APPROACH
TO
INDIAN
ART
BY
ANANDA
K.
COOMARASWAMY
PRINCIPLES
It has
often
been
emphasized
that
Asia
is
one.
This
should
be
understood
both
geographically
nd
historically.
To
enunciate
the
principles
of Indian
art
is to
enunciate
the
essentials
of artistic
expression
n
Asia,
as these
have
been preserved n an unbrokencontinuityfromthe stone
age
until
very
recent
times.
It is
less often
realized that
with
only
two
exceptions,
viz.
that of
the classical
deca-
dence
and that
of the modern
(post-mediaeval)
period,
one and
the
same view
of the nature
and
significance
f
eart has
prevailed
throughout
the world.
It is
only
because
we
ourselves
are
of and
inured to
one
of the
ir-
regular
phases
of civilization
referred
o
above,
that
what
in a
larger
view
may
be described
s
normal
to
humanity,
and
is
exemplified qually
in
mediaxval
Christian
and
in
Hindu
art,
appears
to us either
nigmatic
or
arbitrary.
In the normal
view
of
art,
defined
s the
embodiment
in
tangible
material of a
preconceived
form,
the
function
of
art is
always
practical,
the work of
art
being
ordered
either
to the
communication
f
a thesis
or to some
physi-
cally usefulend. No hard inecan be drawnbetweenthese
functions;
the fresco
nvites
us to consider
ts
thesis,
the
house to warmth and
shelter,
t the
same time
that
the
fresco s a
piece
of
furniture,
nd the house
by
its
propor-
tions
and
design appeals
to the intellect
as
well
as
to
the
shivering
flesh.
And in
fact,
a
distinction
of fine
(or
useless)
from
applied
(useful
or
decorative)
art,
and
of
the artist from the
craftsman,
as
only
been
attempted
n
those aberrant
ges
in which
genius
is
confused
with
art
and the
artist is
regarded
as
a
special
kind
of
man
dis-
tinguished
from all
others
by
his
sensibility.
To be
objectively
beautiful s
not
then the sole
or
final
end
of the
work;
it is not
merely
to
satisfy
the
greedy
eye
and
itching
ear that
humanity,
even
under
condi-
tions when the
urgent
problems
f
food
and
shelter
might
have seemed o leave no time fora consideration f higher
things,
made
common
objects
beautiful,
without
sus-
pecting
that
therecould be an
industry
without
art
such
as
we now
observe
n
civilized
communities. Art
is tra-
ditionally
of
divine
origin,
and all
the
forms
employed
in
the
making
of
anything
whatever
are
those
of intel-
lectual
prototypes,
point
of view that
survives
n
India
even
today.
The
function
of
objective
beauty
in
the
work
of
art
is
to
attract
us
to the theme
or
use
of the
object
before
us.
The
measure of
this
objective
beauty
is
that
of
the
clarity
with
which
the
artefact
makes its
communication.
Anything
s
beautiful in
its
own
way
to
the
extent
that
it
really
and
fully
is what it
purports
to
be;
a
work
of
art
is
beautiful
to the
extent
that
it
realizes
it
maker's
intention. But the
appreciation
of this
beauty
is often
difficult
n
an
unfamiliar
kind
of art
because
we are
habituated to
other
kinds of
beauty
or
are
not
interested
in
the
original
purposes
of
the
work,
to which
its
beauty
conduces.
In
other
words,
a
confusion
of
beauty
with
taste
(what
we
like
or
dislike)
arises
as
soon
as we
con-
sider
the
object
not from
the
maker'sbut
from
our
own
point
of
view.
Yet
there
can be
no
judgment
or
enjoy-
ment
(apart
from
the
comfortable
ensations
which
may
be
stimulated
by
its
physical
shape,
color,
or
sound,
etc.)
of a work
of
art,
without a
knowledge
of the
maker's
intention;
for
example,
we
cannot
say
This
is a
good
Buddha
image
unlesswe
know
what
such
an
image
ought
to
be
like,
that
is, what
Buddha-idea
ubsisted n
the
men-
tal world
of those
who made
Buddha
images
for
good
and
sufficient
easons
f
theirown,
and
not for us
to
treat
as
bric-a-brac.
Just
as the unfamiliar
beauty
may
not attract
us,
so
the language in which the unfamiliarart expounds itsthesis
may,
and to some
extent
must
be obscure
to
us.
Insofar
as the
work
is
known
to us
only
by sensation,
which
though
they
may
be
pleasant
or
unpleasant
n
them-
selves
are not
intelligible
imply
as
sensations, t is
not
understood;
to understand,
o receive
the
communication,
we must
know
how
the
shapes
and colors
which
are
the
sources
of the sense
impressions
ave been selected
and
arranged
n such
a
mannar
as to be
communicative.
We
must, in
other
words, understand
the conventions
of
the
art;
for
though
the
principle
of
language
may
be
one,
the dialects
are
necessarily
arious.
Every
school
of art has
thus
its own
conventions
nd
its own
style,
for
although
ll
mencan think
ike
thoughts
we
can
only
express
hese
deas
in our own
peculiar man-
ner; and although the fundamentalneeds of humanity
are the same,
they
are not
in all
respects
he
same,
or
may
not
be
recognized
as such because
they
are served
in
a
different
ay.
To
resume,
f
we
assume
that
in
connec-
tion with
the
exotic
art a
preliminary
uriosity
s to
be
replaced
by
pleasure
and
understanding,
wo
things
are
required:
we must
in the first
place
learn
to react
to
an
unfamiliar
beauty,
must
acquire
new
tastes,
and in
the
second must
acquire
a
new
vocabulary
of form.
Both
are
necessary
for
enjoyment,
the first
of
sensuous,
the
second
for
intellectual
satisfaction.
To be
content
with
the first
s to
rest in
aestheticism
nd
the
love
of
art ;
the
second,
as
explained
above,
is
prerequisite
or
judg-
ment,
which
is
the
perfection
of art.
In
both
re-
spects
a
certain
degree
of
facility
must
be
attained,
o
that
we may enjoy without conscious effort, nd understand
without
parsing.
So
long
as
any
sense
of
strangeness
s
felt,we remain
outsiders.
A certain
discipline
s thus
demanded.
This is
not
so
much
a
discipline
of
scholarly
application
as
it is
one
of
the
abandonment
of
prejudice.
Most
of
our
resistance
arises
n the latter
connection.
We
do
not like
to
enlarge
our
sympathies,
or
to consent
to
themes
which
we
may
have
been
accustomed
to
regard,
for
example,
as
pagan
or
immoral.
But
these
are
the
prices
to
be
paid
for
culture;
to
judge
all
things
by
an
inherited
aste
is
pre-
cisely
to
be
provincial.
We
are afraid
of
losing
ourselves,
which
is
precisely
what
is
involved
in eclecticism.
But
eclecticism,
r
sub-
jection
to
alien
influences,
s
almost the
opposite
of
what
we mean by culture; to tryto do ourselveswhat is nat-
urally
done
by
others,
to
indulge
in
a
chinoiserie,
m-
plies
a
fundamental
misunderstanding
f
the
significance
of
style,
nd
can
only
result
n
caricature.
What
is
asked
is
something
harder
than
to be
dilettante
n
this
fashion:
viz.
to
be
patient,
to
recognize
that
what
at
first
m-
presses
us
as
merely
odd
may
have
been
inevitable
and
altogether
right
in
its
own
environment,
o
respect
the
idiosyncracy
f others
no
less
than
our
own.
Most
of our
difficulties
rise
from
a
consideration
f
things
apart
from
their
context.
It
may
readily
be
granted,
for
example,
that
even
the
finest
Hindu
image
is
incongruously
elated
and in
this
sense
unlovely
on
the
drawing-room
mantelpiece.
One
who
actually
sees
its
SEVENTEEN
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beauty
does not
really
see it there
on
the
mantelpiece,
but in a
mentally
reconstructed
original
environment.
What
we
require
s to restore he
context.
If
we
cannot
literally
visit
foreign
countries or
actually
consort with
long
dead
men,
we
can
do so
in the
spirit;
t is here that
the teacher
of
art
appreciation
or
the
history
of
art
can
help
us
if he
will;
all our
catalogues
and
guides
are for
this,
and
not
merely
o
rationalize our
sensitivity
to textures r
our
appreciation
f
interior-decorativeal-
ues.
The
bridges
to
be
crossed
are
not so
long
as
might
at
first
ppear.
The
general
end of art is
man,
and human
nature
tself,
which
is
in a
manner
all
things,
provides
the essential basis
for an
understanding
f all its varied
manifestations.
As to
the
objective
beauty,
there is
a
basis of
agreement
on
fundamentals,
iversitybelonging
only
to
accident;
once
we
have
realized
that
our own
idio-
syncracy
s not an absolute standardbut
merely
specific
modality,
he
very
fact of variation reminds s of a
norm
in
which all
variation
s
implicit just
as
many
effects
n-
here in a
single cause)
and in
which
all
are
one.
Tastes
may
differ,
ut
that
about
which tastes differ
remains
unaltered in human nature.
Similarly
as
regards
the
communicated
deologies;
all
of these are variants or
dia-
lects of
a
common
intellectual
nheritance,
nd
even
the
symbols mployed n communication re identicalor inter-
changeable,
s
may
be illustrated
y
a
conspicuous
xample,
that of the rose
and
lotus,
employed
alike
in Christian
and Indian
art and with the
same
significance,
hat is
with
reference
o
the
ground
of
all
being.
And thus
at
last,
those
very
differentiationshich
at
first
precluded
sympathy
ecome the means
of
mutual
understanding,
nd
being
attracted
by
the
specific
beauties
of one
another's
arts,
the
barriers
f
race and
language
are broken
down.
HISTORY
It is desirableto
supply
a
simplified
istorical
outline,
within which
individual
pieces
can
be
approximately
placed.
Everything
anterior
to
the fourth
century
B.C.
is
strictly peakingprehistoric. Culturally
there s
supposed
to
have
been a
non-Aryan
foundation,
overlaid,
perhaps
about 1500
B.C.
by immigrant
Aryan
elements.
For
the
latter we
have
no
positive
archeological
evidence.
What
we
actually
possess
s the
remains
of
the
highly
evolved
non-Aryan Indus Valley Culture of the thirdmillen-
nium
B.C.,
made
know
by
the
excavation
of
the last
fif-
teen
years.
The
aesthetic
nd
religious
onnections
f
this
culturewith that of the later ndian
cycle
of two
millen-
nia
beginning
bout
400
B.C.
is evident
enough,
but
can-
not be
demonstrated
n
detail.
The
Indus
Valley
culture
is
that
of
a
people
living
in
well
planned
cities,
with
brick
buildings
and elaborate
drainage
systems.
All the
fundamentalsof
civilization
are
already
present.
Metal
work,
mainly
n
silver,
opper,
and bronze
is far
advanced.
Sculpture
in the
round
is
represented y examples
far
more modern
n
aspect
than
might
have
been
expected.
Even more
notable
as works
of
art
are the
very
numerous
ngraved
seals and seal
im-
pressions;
a
few
types
of thesehave been found also
in
datable Mesopotamian ites, and suffice o prove at least
a
trade
relationship
etween India and Western
Asia
as
early
as the
third millennium .C. The
Indus
Valley
re-
ligion
included
a
cult
of
the
mother-goddess,
hat
of
a
prototype
of
the later
India
Siva,
and that
of
a
deity
of
vegetation;
amongst
the
symbols
employed
are
many
that
recur
n
later ndian
use,
as
well
as
in
othercultures.
Relations
with
Western Asia
were
maintained
hrough-
BOSTON
LONDON
OSAKA
CHICAGO
PEIPING
EARLY
CHINESE
ART
BRONZES
SCULPTURES
PAINTINGS
POTTERIES
YAMANAKA
COMPANY
INC.
680
FIFTH
AVE.
NEW YORK
SHANGHAI
PEKING
C. T.
LOO &
CO.
ANTIQUE
CHINESE ART
PARIS
48 RUE DE
COURCELLES
NEW
YORK
559
FIFTH
AVENUE
EIGHTEEN
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out the
prehistoric
period.
Apart
from material
evi-
dences,
we
may point
out
(1)
that the
patterns
f
Vedic
( Aryan )
and Sumerian
metaphysics
re in
many
respects
the
same,
and
(2)
that
Early
Indian art
(about
200
B.C.
to 50
A.D.) preserves
formulae
and methods that
are
closely
related
to those
of
Assyrian
art
in the
seventh
and
eighth
centuriesB.C.
(these
resemblances
eing
more
conspicuous
than
those of
Early
Indian
and
Achaemenid
art).
To what extent the
correspondences
f
Indian
and westernAsiatic art
at
any
given
time
may
be
ascribed
to
borrowing,
r how far to
parallel
inheritance
annot
yet be proved; that there existed an ancient cultural
foundationcommon to both is
certain.
What has
been said above will serve to
suggest
the rich
and
varied
background
nd
heritage
gainst
and
on
which
the
expansion
of
art
in India
took
place
from the
early
centuriesB.C.
onwards.
Nevertheless
he art
of
the
later
cycle
of two millennia
may
be called
complete
and com-
prehensive
n
itself.
Whereas Vedic
doctrine had
been
metaphysical
ather than
religious,
he new art
coincides
with a
partial
transference
f
prestige
from
the
spiritual
to
the
temporalpower
and
the
corresponding
ise
of
sev-
eral
closely
connected
types
of
devotional belief.
Still
the
continuity
of
tradition in
both fields is
preserved,
inasmuch as both
religion
and art
are
rather
adaptations
of
than
contrary
o Vedic
formulation;
Hinduism remain-
ing altogether rthodox,while Buddhismand Jainism re
only
in
part
and
rather
nominally
han
essentially
etero-
dox.
There is
hardly
anything
n the
iconography
f
any
Indian
sectarian
art
that
is
not
of Vedic
origin,
or
that
can
be
understoodwithout
a reference ither
to
the
Vedic tradition
or some other
branch
of
the
universal
and
unanimous tradition.
The
dominating
necessities
f
early
Indian
art are
then
those
embodying
concept
of the first
nd
highest
prin-
ciple
in
the likeness
of
a
worshipful
deity,
and those of
the
narration of
ancient
myths
now more
literally
and
historically nterpreted
n the
interests
f edification.
The
Buddha
type
is
adapted
from that
of the
Yaksha,
once
a
designation
of the
supreme
deity
and later
of various
tutelary
divinities. This
early type
is
monumental
n the
extreme, hefigures eingoftenabove life size and no less
impressive
n
their
suggestion
f the
operation
of
a
cata-
lytic power
than
they
are
in
actual
scale.
At
the
same
time the
narrative rt with
which
the
surfaces f Buddhist
buildings
are
covered is
fascinating
n
its
clarity.
The
greater part
of this
early
art
is
more or less
primitive
in
the
laudatory
ense
of
the
word;
it is
entirely
ontrolled
by
its
themes,
nd
at the
same
time
sensuous.
This com-
bination of intellectual
and
sensuous
elements
s
charac-
teristic f Indian art
throughout
ts
expansion.
In the earlier
enturies f the
Christian
ra,
and
notably
at
Amaravati,
a
more
sophisticated
elegance
makes
its
appearance,
reminding
us of
the now more
deliberate
artistry
f the
contemporary
iterature. The
classic
phase
is reached n theGupta period (4th to 7th century). The
sculptor
and
painter
re now in full
possession
f their
rt
and able to
deal with
any
problem.
The
transubstantia-
tion
of natural
form s
achieved n a
type
of
unforgettable
serenity
n
which all conflict
f
contemplation
nd
passion
is
resolved n a
unity
of innerand outer life.
The
sculp-
tured or
painted
figure
and its
architectural
etting
are
no
longer
eparable,
ut
presuppose
ne
another.
In
the meantime
on the
North West
frontier,
Hellen-
istic influence
had
resulted n the
development
f
another
Buddha
type,
equally
Indian in
iconography,
ut Western
in
feeling,
that is
to
say
illusionistic
n
intention,
which
the
purely
Indian art
had never been.
Some traces of
this
influencecan
be
recognized
at
Amaravati,
but can
..............
I
BE
1:
aR
, ii
: :::
:iii~iiii~
SIVA
CHAM,
IX
Century
Recently acquired by
the Cleveland
Museum of
Art.
hardly
be traced in the
Gupta
and
later
schools;
on
the
otherhand it leaves a moredefinite
mpression
n Central
Asia,
where
its
earlier
incongruities
nd
flaccidities
re
reanimated
by
a local
vitality
that results
n a school
of
stucco
sculpture strangely nticipatory
f Gothic
(Maha-
yana
Buddhist and Christian
themes
being
intrinsically
similar,
his s made
conspicuous
n the
corresponding
rts,
developed
n each case fromthe same
late classical
proto-
types).
Before and
during
the
Gupta
period
orthodox
Hinduism
has
already,
ike
Buddhism,
begun
to
employ permanent
materials
for
its
architecture
nd
sculpture.
It
may
be
emphasized
in
this connection that the
sectarian
arts
in
India are
differentiated
nly by
the
details of
their
iconography,
nd not
by
their
tyle,
which is
a function f
period rather than of cult. The classical Gupta style
originates
n Northern nd Central
India,
and in its
Bud-
dhist
phases
becomes the main
source of the
Buddhist art
of Eastern
and South Eastern
Asia. At
the
same time
in
its
Hindu
phases
the
Gupta
types,
followed
by
those
of
the
slightly
ater
South
Indian Pallava
school
(7th-9th
century),
establish hose
of the
Hindu
art
of
the
Indian-
ized
kingdoms
of South
Eastern
Asia
and
notably
Cam-
bodia.
This
grafted
art
very
soon
expands
upon
its own
roots,
native
ethnic
concepts
gradually
remoulding
the
Indian
prototype,
o
that we
must
call
these
rather nde-
pendent
han
merely
olonial arts.
The
mediaeval
period
in
India
is
mainly
one
of
the
crystallization
nd
preservation
f
existing
types.
Styles
NINETEEN
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become
more
ocal,
nd
there
s a concurrent
conographic
and
stylistic
laboration.The
principal
tyles
re
those
of
the
Pala
(Bengal
and
Orissa,
8th-12th
entury)
nd
Cola
(Southern
ndia,
10th-12th
entury)
chools.After
this
ime,
with
he
decline f
Buddhism,
here s no
longer
to be found
specifically
uddhist
rt,
except
f course
in
Ceylon
nd
SouthEastern
Asia,
and
in
Nepal;
in the
latter rea
the
vitality
nd
elegance
f
the
arlier
uddhist
and
Hindu art survivewell
into
the
fifteenth
entury.
Painting
s
represented
y
at
least hree
mportant
chools:
Western
ndian,
epresentedainly
n
Jaina
Mss.
rangingfrom he tenth o the seventeenthentury; heBengali-
Nepalese, epresented
ainly
n BuddhistMss. f ike
date;
and the
Rajput,
xecuted n
walls
or
paper, anging
rom
the
sixteenth o
the
early
nineteenth
entury,
nd
con-
cerned
ntirely
ithHindu
subjects, mongst
which
he
illustrationsf
the
Krishna
ycle
and
of
the
musical
modes
lay
the most
conspicuous arts.
This is the ast
of
the
great
tyles.
Muhammadan
onquestsgradually
xtended
hrough
northernndia from
he twelfth
entury
nwards
esulted
in the
development
f other orms f
art,
mainly
n
sculp-
ture
and
painting,
with
a combined
oreign
nd native
basis.
The
Mughal
school
of
painting
16th-18th
en-
tury)
is
closely
elated o
the
Rajput,
but secular nd
historicaln its nterests,ndstylisticallyclectic, niting
Persian,ndian,
nd
European
lements.
It
may
be said
in
summary
hat
the
Indian
cycle
of
two
millennia
mbraces
stylistic equence
hat
passes
normally
rom
primitive
hrough
classic
to
baroque
styles.
As
in
other
ycles
he
sequence
s
one of decline
rather han f
progress,lthough
he
quality
f
primitive
vitality
ecurs
t
various
moments,
otably
n
earlyRaj-
put
paintings.
In
one
important
respect,
however,
the
Indian
cycle
differs
radically
from
the
European.
In
Europe,
the
fundamental
rinciples
f
the fifth
o
twelfth
centuries
re
abandoned and an
altogether
new
direction
pursued;
thereafter he
properly
ymbolic language
and
ideal references
f
Christian art are
gradually
obscured
by
statements
f
observed fact and the intrusionof
the
artist's
personality.
Nothing
of
this
sort
happened
or
could
have
happened
n Hindu
India;
by
decadence in
India
one
means,
not
an
abandonment f
orthodox
radition
and of
ascertained
methods,
but a
relatively
nfirm
on-
templation
that
inevitably
finds
expression
n a lessened
energy
of
operation;
there
is
a
loss of
animation.
The
formal virtues of Indian art survive at the
presentday
in
folk
art
and to some extent
n
the hieratic and
conserva-
tive tradition
f
the
south.
It is
only
in
Mughal painting
that
any
real
kinship
with the
spirit
f
the
European
Ren-
aissance can be
recognized,
n that both
are
animated
by
a
curiosity
bout
appearances
nd an interest
n
personality.
RECOMMENDED
READING
Coomaraswamy,
A.
K.,
Rajput
Painting,
Oxford,
1917.
Coomaraswamry,
.
K.,
History
of
Indian and
Indonesian
Art,
New
York,
1927.
Coomaraswamy,
A.
K.,
The
Transformation
f
Nature
in
Art,
2nd.
ed.,
Cambridge,
1935.
Coomaraswamy,A. K., Understanding he Art of In-
dia,
Parnassus,
April,
1934.
Kramrisch, .,
Indian
Sculpture,
Oxford and
Calcutta,
1933.
Takics,
Z.,
The
Art
of
Greater
Asia,
Francis
Hopp
Museum,
Budapest,
1933.
Zimmer, H.,
Kunstform
und
Yoga
im
indischen
Kult-
bild, Berlin,
1926.
LOAN
EXHIBITION
OF
EARLYNDIAN
SCULPTURES
PAINTINGS
and
BRONZES
onview hroughecember
HEERAMANECK ALLERIES
724
Fifth
Avenue,
New
York
Rare
Specimens
of
Chinese
Antique
Works fArt
t
TON-YING
&
CO.
5
East
57th
Street
NEW
YORK
CITY
PARIS
CHINA
TWENTY
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