History of Art Western & Indian | Original Article

ABSTRACT:

The art of Indian subcontinent is idealistic in nature with strong traces of different cultures and civilizations in it. It is evident from the history that the cultural diplomats in the region were the invaders, warriors that brought the cultural diffusion through hard power but along with them there were a great number of soft power promoters as artists, suifs, and story tellers. The role of these cultural diplomats was significant in contributing to the better sociocultural understanding and building relationship between people of different faiths, sects and regions. Bachhofer provided a rigorous framework of stylistic analysis, which included details of individual forms and overall composition. While he was trained in Western art history, he was also sensitive to the distinctiveness of Indian art. His analysis of Indian sculpture from Bharhut, Sanchi, and Amaravati reveals keen insights, even if one encounters generalizations, such as the attempt to fit the sequence of development in sculpture from Bharhut to Sanchi to Amaravati in accordance with a universal inner logic of stylistic development. The Western mind, this knowledge seemed more remote and difficult to cultivate than to apply the already evolved Western art historical methods to an interpretation of form and style. Even so, the essential ‘Indian-ness’ of Indian art was also advocated strongly.