A Collecting Odyssey: Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Art, by Pratapaditya Pal

A major contribution to the scholarship of South and Southeast Asian art. A major survey of South and Southeast Asian art drawn from the Alsdorf Collection, one of the finest private collections of Asian art in America. Although this extraordinary collection is well known to scholars and collectors, the exhibition and the accompanying catalogue will provide the first opportunity for the general public to view these remarkable works of art. This collection of more than 450 objects includes sculpture, jewelry, paintings, and architectural elements from India, Nepal, Tibet, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Java, and elsewhere. The objects range in date from a medallion from the second century BC to twentieth-century sculpture. The catalogue has been written by the eminent scholar Pratapaditya Pal. Dr. Pal explains the major themes represented in the collection--Hindu gods, Buddhist and Jain subjects, goddesses, human figures, animals, and ritual, ornamental, and ceremonial objects--and discusses in detail the style, history, and iconography of individual pieces.