Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 24. (Budapest, 2006)

Béla KELÉNYI: Two Trunks from London. Hungarian aspects of the 'discovery' of Nepalese art

NOTES 1 Kramrisch, Stella: The Art of Nepal. New York: Asia Society, 1964. For a summary of the exhibition see Kramrisch, Stella: 'The Art of Nepal: Exhibition in New York'. In: Oriental Art, 1964, vol. X. no. 4, pp. 225-233. Stella Kramrisch (1896-1993) was of Austrian origin. She was born in Nikolsburg (today: Mikulov, Czech Republic). She took her doctoral degree, on early Buddhist sculpture, in Vienna in 1919. From 1921 to 1950, she lectured at Calcutta University: from 1951 to 1972, she was curator of the Indian collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. (For her collection, which contained several Nepalese artefacts, see Pal, P: 'The Kramrisch Bequest to the Philadelphia Museum of Art'. In: Orientations, January 1995, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 55-65.) Her husband was László Neményi. an ill-fated Hungarian professor who lectured on economics at Calcutta University. ' For Schwaiger's life see Kelényi, Béla: 'Schwaiger Imre, a Connaisseur: egy családregény fejezete a Hopp Ferenc Kelet-Ázsiai Művészeti Múzeum történetéből' [Imre Schwaiger, Connoisseur: a Chapter of a Family History from the Annals of the Ferenc Hopp Museum of Eastern Asiatic Art j. In: Művészettörténeti Értesítő XLNU (1998) 1-2, pp. 53-65. 1 For the circumstances once prevalent in the region, see Engelhardt, Isrun: 'The Closing of the Gates: TibetanEuropean Relations at the End of the Eighteenth Century'. In: Blezer, Henk (ed.): Tibet, Past and Present, Tibetan Studies I. Leiden - Boston - Köln: Brill, 2002, pp. 229-245. 4 See Slusser, Mary Shepherd: Nepal Mandala: A Cultural Study of the Kathmandu Valley. Vol. 1. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1982, p. 77. 5 For a summary of the issue see Lo Bue, Erberto: 'The Artists of the Nepal Valley - IF. In: Oriental Art, Winter 1985/86, vol. XXXI, no. 4, pp. 412^113. 6 On Havell's activity in Calcutta, see Tapati GuhaThakura: The Making of New Indian Art. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992, pp. 149-159. 7 Havell, E. B.: Indian Sculpture and Painting. London: John Murray, 1908. For its significance see Tapati GuhaThakura: op. cit., pp. 175-178. For a detailed analysis of Havell's attitude to art, see Mitter, Partha: Much Maligned Monsters. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977, pp. 270-277'. 8 Havell: ibid, pp. 79-80. 9 Havell: ibid, Pis. VI, VIII, X, XIII, XVI, XVIII, XIX, XLIV. "' Havell: ibid, p. 46. " Havell did not take account of Levi's three-volume work constituting the first large-scale summary of Nepal's history and culture (Levi, Sylvian: Le Népal: Etude historique d'un royaume hindou. 3 vols. Paris 1905-1908). He also overlooked the works and collections of Kirkpatrick, Wright and especially Hodgson, all of which had been published much earlier (see notes 17 and 18). 12 Baktay Ervin: 'Nepáli fémplasztika a Keletázsiai Múzeumban' [Nepalese Metal Sculptures in the Museum of East Asia]. In: Az Iparművészeti Múzeum Evkönyvei IL, Budapest, 1955, p. 294. 11 Smith, Vincent A.: A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1911, p. 200. 14 Coomaraswamy, Ananda K.: History of Indian and Indonesian Art. London: Edward Goldston, etc., 1927, p. 145. When discussing later Nepalese art, this last author referred to data published by Havell: see ibid, p. 145, fn. 2. 15 Coomaraswamy: ibid, p. 145. 16 Coomaraswamy: ibid, p. 146, fn. 5. For articles summing up Hodgson's activity, see Hodgson, Brian H.: Illustrations of the Literature, and Religion of the Buddhists. Serampore, 1841. For Hodgson's problematic views on Buddhism, see Gellner, David N.: 'Hodgson's Blind Alley? On the So-Called Schools of Nepalese Buddhism'. In: The Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, 1989, 12.1, pp. 7-19. 17 Foucher, M. Alfred : Catalogue des peintures népalaises et tibétaines de la collection B.-H. Hodgson. Paris, 1897, pp. 7-8. 18 See Macdonald, Alexander W. - Stahl, Anne Vergati: Newar Art. Warminster: Aris & Phillips Ltd, 1979, pp. 1-2. " Baktay: 'Nepáli fémplasztika...', op. cit.; Tóth, Edit: Nepál művészete a Hopp Ferenc Keletázsiai Művészeti Múzeumban [Nepalese Art in the Ferenc Hopp Museum of Eastern Asiatic Art]. Budapest, 1963. :

" Baktay: 'Nepáli fémplasztika...', op. cit., p. 294. 21 Baktay: Die Kunst des Indiens. Budapest: TerraVerlag, 1963, p. 474. 22 See Tapati Guha-Thakura: op. cit., pp. 153-154. 23 Shri Jogesh Chandra Bagal: 'History of the Government College of Art & Craft'. In: Centenaiy: Government Collage of Art & Craft Calcutta. Calcutta, 1951, p. 26. 24 See one of Baktay's unpublished studies: Archives of the Ferenc Hopp Museum, A 3238/1-3. Clearly, the statement was repeated by Tóth, see Tóth: op. cit.. p. 7. See also Baktay: 'Nepáli fémplasztika...', op. cit., p. 294. 25 'I must also thank [...] Mr. Imre G. Schwaiger, of Delhi and Simla, to whose exertions the Calcutta Art Gallery owes some of its choicest treasures.' Havell: op. cit.. p. viii. 26 Felvinczi Takács, Zoltán: Buddha útján a Távol Keleten [On the Path of the Buddha in the Far East]. Budapest: Révai, 1938, p. 74. 21 Indian Museum: General Register, vol. V, 12052-14011:12943-12945, 12990-12994. 28 The journal published mainly selections from Kirkpatrick's book of 1811 and presented a private collection of a few ritual lamps. Journal of Indian Art and Industry, 1896, vol. VI, nos. 46-53, Pis. 22-29. 25 Felvinczi Takács: 'A Hopp Ferenc Múzeum jelentősége' [The Significance of the Ferenc Hopp Museum]. In: Magyar Művészet, 1925, p. 477. ,0 Felvinczi Takács: Buddha útján..., op. cit., p. 74. Felvinczi Takács considered the above facts so important that he repeated them almost word for word in the statement he made after Schwaiger's death. For this see A Mai Nap, 1 July 1940 issue, p. 3. " Baktay, Ervin: 'Nepáli fémplasztika...', op. cit., p. 294.