B. N. Goswamy was Professor Emeritus of Art History at the Panjab University, Chandigarh, and a world-renowned authority on Indian painting. He wrote and lectured extensively and was a guest curator of exhibitions of Indian art all over the world, including major ones held in Paris, San Francisco, Zurich, San Diego, and New York. He was also visiting professor at the universities of Heidelberg, Pennsylvania, California (Berkeley and UCLA), Texas (Austin), and Zurich. Professor Goswamy’s many publications include the Essence of Indian Art, Pahari Masters, Domains of Wonder, Nainsukh of Guler, The Spirit of Indian Painting, The Great Mysore Bhagavata, A Sacred Journey, and Conversations. His work is regarded as having influenced much thinking on Indian art. His awards and honours include the Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship, the Rietberg Award, the Rockefeller Grant, the Senior Mellon Fellowship, the Tagore Fellowship, and the Padma Shri (1998) and Padma Bhushan (2008) from the president of India.
The Indian Cat, Professor Goswamy said, is ‘the first time I have strayed from the area of Indian art’.