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Jeannine Auboyer

Portrait of Jeannine   Auboyer

Jeannine Auboyer (6 Aug 1912, Paris — 6 Feb 1990, Sèvres (92), France) was a French Indologist and art historian specializing in the classical arts of South and Southeast Asia. From 1965 to 1980 she was the chief-curator of the Musée Guimet in Paris.

A daughter of commissaire-priseur [auctioneer] Jean Auboyer (1881−1958), she studied visual arts at Académie Jullian and Académie de la Grande Chaumière as a teenager, and attended École du Louvre from 1929 to 1934, specializing in art history of the Indian world and the Far East under prestigious mentors such as Joseph Hackin, René Grousset, Philippe Stern and Victor Goloubew. She also studied at the École pratique des hautes études (EPHE, with Paul Pelliot, Jean Przyluski, Paul Mus), the Institut d’Art et d’Archéologie with Alfred Foucher, the Institute of Indian Civilization as well as the Ethnological Institute at the Sorbonne University of Paris (with Marcel Mauss and Paul Rivet).

Jeannine Auboyer was only 19 when she collaborated with Philippe Stern in the transfer of the collections of the Indochinese Museum at Trocadéro Palace to the Musée Guimet, an assignment that lasted from 1931 until 1936. From 1942 to 1946, she worked at Musée Cernuschi, defending her EPHE thesis on ​“The Throne and its Symbolism in Ancient India” in 1946. Curator of Musée Guimet in 1952, she replaced Philippe Stern as chief-curator in 1965, initiating a general renovation of the museum which was completed by the end of her tenure, at her retirement in 1980. She then received the title of honorary chief-curator. During these two decades, she taught at École du Louvre, holding the chair of Art of the Indian World from 1965 to 1980.

J. Auboyer was also active at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) as director of the Centre for Iconography of the Indian World. She conducted many field studies in India, Nepal, Cambodia and Thailand in 1956 – 57, 1959, 1961 – 62, 1963 – 64, 1966, 1968, 1973 – 74. Among her numerous publications, Daily Life in Ancient India (French: La vie quotidienne dans l’Inde ancienne, published in 1961 and translated into English in 1965) was a vivid record of the ancient Indian rituals and customs.

Publications

  1. “Un aspect du symbolisme de la souveraineté dans l’Inde d’après l’iconographie des trônes”, Revue des arts asiatiques (RAA) 11, 1937, p 88 – 101.
  2. “Les Influences étrangères et les Réminiscences dans les peintures murales du Kondô du Hôryûji”, RAA 13, 1939 – 42, p 49 – 66; Les influences étrangères et les réminiscenses dans les peintures murales du Kondô du Hôryûjî. 1941, 146 p. [originally thesis at Éc. du Louvre 1939].
  3. Le trône et son symbolisme dans l’Inde ancienne, Paris, A.M.G. Bureau d’études, 1949, 228 p [originally JA’s É.P.H.É. thesis 1946].
  4. L’Hindouisme, Lille, Catholicite, 1946, 72 p; repub. 1970, ibid.
  5. Les arts de l’Asie orientale et de l’Extrême-Orient, Paris, Que sais-je? 1942, 126 p; 4th ed. 1976.
  6. [with Rene Grousset] De l’Inde au Cambodge et a Java, Monaco, Les editions des beaux-arts, 1950.
  7. Arts et styles de l’Inde, Paris, 1951, 171 p.; [revised edition] Les arts de l’Inde et des pays indianisés, Paris, 1968, 186 p.
  8. “La vie privée dans l’Inde ancienne d’après les ivoires de Begram”, J. Hackin et al., Nouvelles recherches archéologiques à Begram, MDAFA, 1954, p 59 – 82.
  9. [founder and editor of the series] La vie publique et privée dans l’Inde ancienne; own contributions: 6. Les jeux et les jouets, 1955, 51 p.; [with J. F. Enault] 1. L’architecture civile et religieuse. 1969, 74 p; [with I. Gobert] 2. Le mobilier, 1983, 146.
  10. “Un maître hollandais du XVIIe siècle s’inspirant des miniatures mogholes”, Arts asiatiques (AA) 2, 1955, 251 – 273.
  11. [with E. Zannas] Khajuraho. 277 p. 175 photos, Gravenhage, 1960.
  12. La vie quotidienne dans l’Inde ancienne (environ 2e s. avant J.-C. – VIIe s.). 408 p. P. 1961, 2nd ed. 1974, transl. into 7 languages; ENG Daily Life in Ancient India, London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson,1965.
  13. “Quelques réflexions a propos du cakra arme offensive”, Arts asiatiques 11, 1965, 119 – 130.
  14. L’Art Khmer au musée Guimet Paris, photos Leonard Von Matt, Zurich, Du-Atlantis special issue, 1965; Zurich, Manesse Verlag, Conzett & Huber, 1966.
  15. The oriental world (Landmarks of the world’s art), London, Hamlyn, 1967.Introduction à l’étude de l’art de l’Inde, Roma, S.O.R., 1965, 138 p.
  16. L’Afghanistan et son art, 1968, 174 p.
  17. Sri Ranganathaswami. Le temple de Vishnu à Srirangam, Paris, Unesco,1969, 58 p; ENG Sri Ranganathaswami — A Temple of Vishnu in Srirangam (Tamilnadu, India), Paris, UNESCO, 1969.
  18. Angkor, Extinct City, Barcelona, Ediciones Poligrafa, 1971, 78 p.
  19. [with H. Härtel] Indien und Südostasien, Berlin, Propyläen Kunstgesch, 1971, 369 p.
  20. Oriental Art : A Handbook of Styles and Forms [with Huguette Rousset, Chantal Massonaud, Michel Beurdeley, Michel, Jean Boisselier], Milan, Rizzoli Ed., 1980. ISBN 13: 9780847802722.
  21. Buddha: Le chemin de l’illumination. Paris, 1982, 265 p. (English and German tr.)
  22. Forms and Styles: Asia (Evergreen Series) [with Michel Beurdeley, Jean Boisselier, Chantal Massonaud, Huguette Rousset], Taschen Verlag, 1994. ISBN 13: 9783822890356.