Overview

This book explores how collecting and scholarship in the field of Islamic Art developed between c.1850 and c.1950, the period when the intellectual foundations for the study of Islamic art were established. Stephen Vernoit outlines the formation of collections, the role of exhibitions, museums and libraries, the growth of the art market, and the emergence of scholarship.

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9781860645341

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Reviews

For centuries the art and architecture of the Muslim lands have intrigued a diverse range of travellers and government officials, art collectors, scholars and museum curators. This is, however, the first book in which leading scholars in the field explore the many factors and personalities involved in studying and collecting Islamic art between the mid-19th and mid-20th centuries. Discovering Islamic Art examines how collecting and scholarship developed in this 100-year span, the period when the intellectual foundations for the study of Islamic art were established - when the notion of a distinct and coherent tradition of Islamic art was formulated and on which much of scholarship is based. The volume therefore is a history of scholarship and collection of Islamic art; it is NOT a history of the development and achievements of art in the Islamic lands. All the chapters (with the exception of the introductory survey) are based on the papers presented at a conference on 'The History of Islamic Art History: Collectors, Collections and Scholars, 1850-1950' held in London in 1996. It is indisputably an academic work, intended primarily for scholars in the field. Take, for example, a few of the chapter headings: 'Collecting Mughal Art at the Victoria and Albert Museum', 'The Acquisition of Persian and Turkish Carpets by the South Kensington Museum', 'Augustus Wollaston Franks and the Display of Islamic Art at the British Museum'. These are, it is clear, sufficient evidence of the nature of the volume. There is no dispute about the depth and strength of the scholarship it encompasses; nevertheless it would be dishonest to pretend that this was a book for general readers. Maybe, once non-academic readers have absorbed the histories of the multi-faceted nature of Islamic art, they might wish to move on to more detailed, specialized works. Unless however, they are interested in the history of collection and of scholarship in the field, this will not be the next title on their reading lists. (Kirkus UK)

Author Information

Stephen Vernoit lectures in Islamic history and art at Al-Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco.

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