Obituary: Panjab University alumna Kavita Singh leaves behind rich art history legacy
Friends and family paid final respects to art historian Kavita Singh who was cremated here on Monday. Kavita passed away on Sunday after a two-year battle with cancer. She was 58.
A former dean at the School of Arts and Aesthetics, JNU, Kavita was well known for her presence in the discipline of art history in South Asia.
She was awarded the 2018 Infosys Prize for Humanities for her achievements, including instructive analysis of Mughal painting.
The award citation read, “The Infosys Prize…is awarded to Singh for her extraordinarily illuminating study of Mughal, Rajput and Deccan art and her insightful writing on the historical function and role of museums.”
Singh received BA (Hons) in English literature from Lady Shri Ram College, MFA in art history from MS University, Baroda and PhD in art history from Panjab University in 1996.
Distinguished art historian BN Goswamy who was Kavita’s PhD guide at PU, said, “Kavita was the most gifted student I have had. She was a talent. She presented art history as a serious discipline and was extraordinarily courageous even after she took ill. Even until few weeks back Kavita was lecturing. It’s a tremendous loss.”
Acclaimed author William Dalrymple termed the loss as the “saddest” tweeting, “Kavita did so much to educate us all on obscure recesses of Indian art history.”
