Alice Boner Diaries: India 1934-1967

Alice Boner Diaries: India 1934-1967

Apart from an insight into Alice Boner’s keen observation of Indian temple-architecture and art the present selection of her diary entries also depict the struggles of Alice Boner, the artist. In her work she strove to represent the spirit of India which her intensive experiences of over 40 years in the country revealed to her. Her experiences also included contact with personalities of the calibre of Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Laxman Joo, Sarojini Naidu, Ustad Alauddin Khan, and her admiration of Mahatma Gandhi. As a remarkable diarist Alice Boner puts her thoughts to pen in an elegant, eminently readable style. The reader feels with her the thrill and awe at the ancient monumental sights all over India, reads about her vision of the principles of sacred art, and shares with her the inner conflict of one torn between the two worlds of Europe and India. Over and over again this unique woman, with roots in the European culture, expresses her deep attachment to India. Most of the diary entries are in German and English and these have been retained for the sake of the originality of her fine expression, interspeersed with a selection of sketches from her vast repertoire. In addition, the German portions have been translated here for the benefit of English readers.

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About the Author(s)

ALICE BONER was one of the outstanding scholars and interpreters of Indian sculpture and temple architecture. She was awarded the ‘Padmabhushan’ by the President of India in 1974 and an honorary Doctorate by the University of Zurich. The Kala Bhawan of the Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi has a permanent exhibition ‘Alice Boner: Artist and Scholar’.