Historian of Indian art named next Mellon Lecturer

The National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, has named the Columbia University art historian Vidya Dehejia as the 2016 A.W. Mellon lecturer. Beginning on 3 April, Dehejia is due to give six talks at the museum on bronzes from the south Indian Chola dynasty (850-1270) that will focus, in part, on two pieces in the collection of the nearby Freer Gallery of Art. Dehejia’s lectures will survey “the major role these pieces played in religious and social life,” she says. “Only a few people have ever worked on these objects and they have focused completely on dating, but that dating hasn’t put things into context.” Dehejia is the 65th lecturer in the distinguished series, which has hosted speakers like the historian Isaiah Berlin and the artist Naum Gabo. She will be the first in the series to focus on Indian art.