Research Catalog

Title

A collecting odyssey : Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian art from the James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection / Pratapaditya Pal ; with contributions by Stephen Little.

Author

Pal, Pratapaditya

Publication

[Chicago] : Art Institute of Chicago ; New York : Thames and Hudson, 1997.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Additional Authors

• Little, Stephen, 1954-
• Art Institute of Chicago

Description

xxiv, 359 p. : ill. (some col.); 32 cm.

Summary

The James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection is one of the finest private collections of Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian art in the United States. Although this extraordinary collection is well known to scholars and collectors, this catalogue, produced by The Art Institute of Chicago, provides the first opportunity for the general public to see these remarkable works of art. Assembled over a period of several decades by the Alsdorfs, this vast collection includes sculpture, jewelry, paintings, architectural elements, and other objects. The works come from India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tibet, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Indonesia, and they range in date from the second century B.C. to this century. This book has been written by the eminent scholar Pratapaditya Pal, the Art Institute's Visiting Curator of Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art. Dr. Pal explains the major themes represented in the collection - Hindu gods, Buddhist and Jain subjects, goddesses, other human figures, religious and secular objects, and animals - and discusses in detail the style, history, and iconography of individual pieces.

Subject

• Alsdorf, James W. 1913- > Art collections > Exhibitions
• Alsdorf, Marilynn, 1926-2019 > Art collections > Exhibitions
• Alsdorf, James W. 1913- > Art collections
• Alsdorf, Marilynn, 1926-2019 > Art collections
• Alsdorf, James W. 1913-1990 > Art collections
• Art, Indic > Exhibitions
• Art > Himalaya Mountains Region > Exhibitions
• Art, Southeast Asian > Exhibitions
• Art > Private collections > United States > Exhibitions

Genre/Form

Exhibition catalogs

Note

• "This book was published in conjunction with the exhibition 'A Collecting Odyssey...' organized by the Art Institute of Chicago, August 2, 1997-October 26, 1997"--T.p. verso.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 354-356) and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Foreword / James N. Wood -- Prologue / Marilynn Alsdorf -- Acknowledgments / Stephen Little -- A collecting odyssey / Pratapaditya Pal -- Map -- A curatorial appreciation / Stephen Little -- Color plates with commentary / Pratapaditya Pal. Realm of the Hindu gods, Shaiva sculptures, Vaishnava sculptures, Images of other Hindu gods ; The Buddhist realm, symbols, Buddhas, Bodhisattvas ; Enlightened teachers of the Jains ; Divine world of the feminine ; Saints, mystics, and donors ; Ritual objects ; Ornaments and ceremonial objects ; Menagerie -- Catalogue of the collection / Pratapaditya Pal -- Works cited -- Index.

ISBN

0500974543

LCCN

^^^97060325^

OCLC

37461259

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library