author
E. B. (Ernest Binfield) Havell
1861–1934
A British art historian and educator, he became one of the early English champions of Indian art and architecture at a time when they were often undervalued. His books helped introduce many readers to the depth and originality of South Asian artistic traditions.
1 Audiobook
A Handbook to Agra and the Taj, Sikandra, Fatehpur-Sikri and the Neighbourhood
by E. B. (Ernest Binfield) Havell
About the author
Born in 1861, E. B. Havell trained as an artist and went on to build much of his career in India. He is best known as an arts administrator, art historian, and writer who argued that Indian art should be studied and respected on its own terms, not simply judged by European standards.
Havell served as principal of the Government School of Art in Calcutta from 1896 to 1905, where he became closely associated with efforts to reshape art education in India. His name is often linked with Abanindranath Tagore and the wider cultural movement that encouraged renewed interest in Indian artistic traditions.
He also wrote numerous books on Indian art and architecture, helping bring these subjects to a broader English-speaking audience. Although his views were shaped by the debates of his time, his work remains an important part of the early modern history of writing about Indian art.