MES 18.05 Collecting Islamic Art

Recent interest in the historiography of Islamic art has been on scholarship, museums, and collecting from the mid-nineteenth through the mid-twentieth century, the formative period for this field. Exploring a diverse range of collecting practices, this course aims to elaborate on key questions that inform our understanding of Islamic art and its peoples - How and why did these objects enter museums and private collections? What circumstances of this particular period engendered such an interest in Islamic art? What kind and quality of objects entered collections? Who were some of the individuals who played a role in the collecting, exhibiting, and framing Islamic art in the Western world? In short, what or who were these early tastemakers, and what taste did they mold? The approach to examining collections, collecting patterns, and special exhibitions will be comparative, drawing on collecting practices in both modern museums and precolonial collections in Europe and within the Muslim world.

Degree Requirement Attributes

Dist:ART; WCult:NW

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Department-Specific Course Categories

Middle Eastern Studies