Review
Published in association with the Norton Simon Art Foundation
Book Description
This gorgeously illustrated book completes a three-volume series cataloguing the Asian art collection at the Norton Simon Museum. The volume includes approximately 180 religious artworks from Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Burma and Laos, as well as Ban Chiang pottery and rain drums. Stone and metal sculptures from Cambodia and Thailand are an area of particular strength in this collection.
A substantial introduction to the volume provides pertinent information about the cultural milieu that inspired the creation of these artworks. Each object is then illustrated and discussed in detail in the catalogue section of the book.
Published in association with the Norton Simon Art Foundation
From the Publisher
Published in association with the Norton Simon Art Foundation
About the Author
Pratapaditya Pal is an internationally recognized authority on the art of South and Southeast Asia and the Himalayas. He is Fellow for Research at the Norton Simon Museum, Visiting Curator at the Art Institute of Chicago, and general editor of Marg publications.
Asian Art at the Norton Simon Museum: Art from Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, Vol. 3 FROM THE PUBLISHER
The volume includes some 190 artworks including pottery from the ancient Ban Chiang tradition and rain drums related to the classic Dong Son culture of northern Vietnam. Stone and metal sculptures from Cambodia and Thailand are an area of particular strength in this collection. An introduction to the volume provides information about the cultural milieu that inspired the creation of these artworks. The catalogue of the collection is presented geographically, and objects from each featured region - Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Burma, and Vietnam - are discussed in brief essays highlighting distinct regional characteristics and the significance of certain artworks. Individual objects are illustrated - frequently with more than image - and described and compared. While some masterpieces may be familiar to scholars, the vast majority of these works are published here for the first time.
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
Pal, fellow for research at the Norton Simon Museum in California, completes his three-volume set on the museum's Asian art collection with this study of art from Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. (The previous volumes covered art from the Indian subcontinent and from the Himalayas and China.) Lovely reproductions, many full page, belie the fact that with the exception of items from Thailand and Cambodia-the most significant portion of the museum's collection and of the book as well-much of what was known about these pieces has been lost. Little information is available about artists and guilds in Southeast Asia, distinctions between Hindu and Buddhist traditions are more blended than on the subcontinent, and the wide distribution and continued use of many objects make them hard to date or place. However, this visual record will be helpful to researchers in the field. Pal is quite knowledgeable, and his curator's eye brings out interesting tidbits about each piece, allowing the reader to delight in the charm and beauty of the works. Recommended for specialty libraries in art history or Asian studies.-Nadine Dalton Speidel, Cuyahoga Cty. P.L., Parma, OH Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
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