A collecting odyssey

The James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection is one of the finest private collections of Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian art in the United States. Although this extraordinary collection is well known to scholars and collectors, this catalogue, produced by The Art Institute of Chicago, provides the first opportunity for the general public to see these remarkable works of art.

Assembled over a period of several decades by the Alsdorfs, this vast collection includes sculpture, jewelry, paintings, architectural elements, and other objects. The works come from India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tibet, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Indonesia, and they range in date from the second century B.C. to this century.

This book has been written by the eminent scholar Pratapaditya Pal, the Art Institute's Visiting Curator of Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art. Dr. Pal explains the major themes represented in the collection - Hindu gods, Buddhist and Jain subjects, goddesses, other human figures, religious and secular objects, and animals - and discusses in detail the style, history, and iconography of individual pieces.