The Asian Art Museum’s Collection
Overview | Collection Galleries | China | Japan | Korea | South Asia | Southeast Asia |
The Himalayas and Tibetan Buddhist World | The Persian World and West Asia | Contemporary Art | Recent Acquisitions
Overview
The Asian Art Museum holds one of the most comprehensive collections of Asian art in the world. Spanning 6,000 years, its scope and breadth enables the museum to provide an introduction to all the major traditions of Asian art and culture. Well-known in the scholarly world, the collection contains rare and exceptional objects which are often referenced in journals and textbooks.
The collection includes over 18,000 objects ranging from tiny jades to monumental sculptures, paintings, porcelains and ceramics, lacquers, textiles, furniture, arms and armor, puppets, and basketry.
Many of the finest objects in the museum’s collection were donated by Chicago industrialist Avery Brundage in the 1960s, serving as the impetus for the museum’s founding. His contribution includes some of the museum’s most celebrated objects—including a gilt bronze Buddha dated 338—the oldest known dated Chinese Buddha in the world and often cited as a textbook example of Chinese Buddhist art.
The museum’s collection galleries on the second and third floors feature more than 2,000 artworks and offer a comprehensive introduction to all the major cultures of Asia. The collection galleries are divided into seven geographic regions: South Asia; the Persian World and West Asia; Southeast Asia; the Himalayas and the Tibetan Buddhist World; China; Korea; and Japan. Winding through all the galleries are three major themes: the development of Buddhism; trade and cultural exchange; and local beliefs and practices.
Artworks in the galleries are regularly rotated, offering visitors a chance to view more of the museum’s collection. Click here to find out more.
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Collection Highlights Podcast (audio only), 12.9 MB file | Help |
Collection Highlights
- Chinese ceramics and porcelain that provides a survey of the entire history of the art form in China (4,500 years).
- Nearly 300 Chinese ritual bronzes, some nearly 3,000 years old.
- Chinese jades that span 6,000 years of history—from the Neolithic period to the present.
- Chinese Buddhist art encompassing stone sculpture, paintings, and bronzes.
- Paintings and calligraphic works from the 10th to 21st century.
- Textiles, lacquers, and objects made of cloisonné, ivory, bamboo, glass, and horn.
- Carved rhinoceros horn vessels.
Ritual vessel (zun or gui) in the shape of a rhinoceros, probably late 1100s–1050 BCE. China; reportedly Shouchang, Shandong province. Shang dynasty, late phase (1300–1050 BCE). Bronze. The Avery Brundage Collection, B60B1+.
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Podcast of this object (audio only) 1.7 MB file | Help |
- Rare painted scrolls and screens, ceramics from the 3rd millennium BCE to the present
- Major Buddhist sculpture and paintings.
- The largest and most notable collection of bamboo baskets outside of Japan.
- Superb decorative arts and textiles.
- Important woodblock prints of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Haniwa in the form of a warrior, approx. 500–600. Japan; excavated at Fujioka, Gunma Prefecture. Kofun period (250–600). Earthenware. The Avery Brundage Collection, B60S204.
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Podcast of this object (audio only) 1.3 MB file | Help |
- The best and most comprehensive collection of Korean art outside of Korea.
- Goryeo dynasty celadons and rare unglazed stonewares from the Three Kingdoms period (57 BCE to 668 CE) and Unified Silla period (668 to 935 CE).
- Paintings from the courtly, scholarly, Buddhist, and folk traditions.
- Superb examples of lacquerware and textiles.
Jar with tiger and magpie, approx. 1800–1900. Korea. Joseon dynasty. Porcelain with underglaze cobalt decoration. Gift of Mr. NamKoong Ryun, 2001.9.
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Podcast of this object (audio only) 1.1 MB file | Help |
Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, Laos, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia)
- Stone and bronze material from Angkor Wat and other sites of ancient Angkor.
- One of the most important collections of Thai paintings outside of Thailand.
- Thai ceramics and sculpture, a collection of krises (daggers) from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand; and other furnishings and ritual objects.
- Sculpture, textiles, jewelry, ceramics, terra-cotta works, and paintings from Indonesia, Burma, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
The Hindu deities Shiva and Parvati, 1000–1100. Cambodia; former kingdom of Angkor. Metamorphosed volcanic rock. The Avery Brundage Collection, B66S2 and B66S3.
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Podcast of this object (audio only) 3.7 MB file | Help |
South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka)
- Indian stone sculpture, particularly Buddhist works from the birthplace of Buddhism.
- Paintings, prints, textiles, and armor relating to Sikh traditions.
- Temple sculptures, reliefs, bronze images, jades, miniature paintings, and wood carvings, reflecting the major trends in all the major religions of India over a 2,000 year period – Hindu, Muslim, Jain.
Elephant throne (howdah), approx. 1870–1920. India, Madhya Pradesh state. Partially gilded and painted silver over wood, with velvet and wicker. Acquisition made possible by the Hamon Charitable Foundation, 2001.12.
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Podcast of this object (audio only) 1.3 MB file | Help |
The Himalayas and the Tibetan Buddhist World (Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, Mongolia)
- Paintings, major groups of stone, dry lacquer, bronze sculpture, Bhutanese textiles, and rare Tibetan scrolls from the Shalu and Ngor monasteries.
The Buddhist deity Simhavaktra Dakini. China; Beijing or vicinity, Hebei province. Qing dynasty, reign of the Qianlong emperor (1736–1795). Wood with lacquer and gilding, and inlaid with semiprecious stones. The Avery Brundage Collection, B60S600.
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Podcast of this object (audio only) 1.9 MB file | Help |
The Persian World and West Asia (Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan)
- Ceramics from the Neolithic period to the 19th century, Luristan and Islamic bronzes, miniature paintings and manuscripts.
Cheekpiece of a bridle in the form of a fantastic creature, 1000–600 BCE. Iran; Luristan region. Bronze. The Avery Brundage Collection, B60B17+
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Contemporary Art
Over the past ten years, the museum has made a concentrated effort to include contemporary art in its exhibition programs and in its acquisition pursuits. At its new home, the museum’s special exhibition program includes a consistent schedule of exhibitions featuring works by contemporary artists. The goal is to contribute to an international dialogue about art in our own age and to an understanding of what defines or distinguishes Asian art in the 21st century. The museum has also begun to acquire contemporary works and will continue to make an effort to do so.
Basin, 2000, by Masatoshi Izumi (1938– ). Japan. Basalt. Gift of Johnson S. Bogart in memory of Elizabeth M. Bogart, 2000.28.
The museum actively develops the collection by soliciting gifts of artworks or raising funds to purchase artworks.
Note: Recently acquired artworks may not be immediately on view in the galleries. The museum’s unique presentation of its collection is supported by a substantial grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Display of the museum’s collection is made possible by Bank of America
Audio clips © Asian Art Museum and Acoustiguide Corporation, 2003
