Beginning in March 2000, the Harvard University Art Museums have embarked on a year-long, multi-gallery program of exhibitions showcasing recent additions to the collections. From Old Master drawings to the sculpture of Richard Tuttle, these shows allow visitors the unique opportunity to view a broad spectrum of works of art, and will offer a rare glimpse into the collecting practices of a major teaching and research museum.

Kotah Master, Bhoj Singh of Bundi Slays a Lion, c. 1725. Opaque watercolor and gold on paper, 50.8 x 68.5 cm. Gift of Stuart Cary Welch.

A Decade of Collecting: Recent Acquisitions of Islamic and Later Indian Art, showcases a number of important works of art from the Stuart Cary Welch Collection. Welch, a Harvard alumnus and Curator Emeritus of the Art Museums, gave more than 300 works from his collection of Indian and Islamic Art, considered one of the finest and most comprehensive private collections of this type.

With this gift, the Museum’s collection of Islamic and later Indian art stands as one of the foremost in the United States. Among the most important works to be presented is a bifolio from a famous manuscript produced in Safavid Iran, the Divan (Collected Works) of Hafiz, ca. 1525. The bifolio features the painting Scandal in a Mosque, signed by Shaykh Zada. With its beautifully balanced composition, meticulous detail, and brilliant finish, this painting is considered Shaykh Zada’s masterpiece. Also from the Welch collection is a splendid and powerful painting, Bhoj Singh of Bundi Slays a Lion. Attributed to the Kotah Master, the painting was produced in one of the Rajput states of India and is datable to ca. 1725. The permanent collection of the Department of Islamic and Later Indian Art consists primarily of works of art on paper from Iran, India, and Turkey. The Indian material includes both Islamic and non-Islamic works. Other important holdings include carpets from Iran, Turkey, and the Caucasus, and ceramics from Iran and Turkey.

In quality, the Art Museums’ holdings of Persian paintings and drawings from the 14th through 17th centuries rank alongside those of the British Library, the British Museum, and the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris. Harvard’s collection of paintings from the great Mongol Shahnama (Book of Kings) is unrivaled. The collection is also rich in works of art from the Mughal and Rajput courts of India.