In India, Havell initially served the
Madras School of Art as Superintendent for a decade from 1884. He arrived Calcutta on 5 July 1896 and joined as Superintendent of the
Government School of Art, Calcutta next day. In between, he went to England for a year from April 1902 to March 1903. While in England, he published two valuable articles on Indian art in the October 1902 and January 1903 issues of a well known art journal of London,
The Studio. In January 1906 he left for England on long leave and finally in 1908, he was removed from the post. Havell worked with
Abanindranath Tagore to redefine, decolonise and Indianise Indian art education. He established the
Indian Society of Oriental Art, which sought to adapt British art education in
India so as to reject the previous emphasis placed on European traditions in favour of revivals of native Indian styles of art, in particular the
Mughal miniature tradition. He published several books on Indian art including
Indian Sculpture and Painting (1908) and
The Ideals of Indian Art (1911). He was involved in founding the
India Society along with
William Rothenstein in 1910 as a reaction to negative remarks made by
Sir George Birdwood on Indian art. ==Personal life==