Asian Art

The Asian art collection represents art from around the continent of Asia including Afghanistan, Gandhara, Cambodia, India, the Indus Valley, Indonesia, Japan, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Tibet. Due to the broad range of periods and cultures represented, the Asian art collection consists of vastly different types and styles… From the earliest pottery examples in the Indus Valley (3rd millennia BC), to the Greco-Buddhist art of Afghanistan (3rd century AD) to the post Islamic conquest pieces of the recent era.  This collection comprehensively contains both heavily abstracted fertility figures from some of Asia’s most ancient advanced cultures in the Indus Valley to some of the most refined and exquisite representations of the Buddha in Shan period Myanmar. Indeed, a large portion of the collection is indicative of this profound Buddhist influence over South-East Asia, which can be most astutely observed in the serene depictions of the Buddha from Thailand, Cambodia, and Myanmar.  Highlights include magnificent and monumental Basalt figures from Indonesia, a breath-taking set of pure gold Hindu-Buddhist deity sculptures from Bali, countless masterworks in Bronze from the legendary Khmer civilization of Cambodia, and brilliant 19th century Rattanakosin seated disciple pairs from Thailand.