February 18 through July 23, 2006
Arthur M. Sackler Museum (More about the Arthur M. Sackler Museum)

Aqa Riza Jahangiri, Master and Pupil (perhaps Prince Salim, later Emperor Jahangir, with his tutor), India; Mughal, late 16th century. Black ink and opaque watercolor on beige paper, 26.2 x 16.5 cm. Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University Art Museums, Promised Gift of Stuart Cary Welch, Jr., 242.1983. Photo: Allan Macintyre, HUAM, © President and Fellows of Harvard College.

The Tablet and the Pen explores the development of drawing as an independent artistic medium in Islamic art. Focusing on examples from Turkey, Iran, and India, this exhibition emphasizes aspects of technique while illuminating the historical circumstances that affected the development of this medium. It examines the role played by drawing in the design of paintings, textiles, and metalwork; the increased demand for and production of single-sheet drawings in the 16th and 17th centuries; and the numerous ways in which drawings served as catalysts for artistic experiment. Speaking to a growing interest in Islamic drawing, The Tablet and the Pen offers an opportunity to understand how this medium emerged as a powerful and dynamic mode of expression in the eastern Islamic lands.

Organized by Ladan Akbarnia and Chanchal Dadlani, Ph.D. candidates, History of Art and Architecture, with David J. Roxburgh, professor of history of art and architecture, and Mary McWilliams, Norma Jean Calderwood Curator of Islamic and Later Indian Art. Funding has been provided by Melvin R. Seiden, the Arthur Urbane Dilley 1897 and Theron Johnson Damon 1905 Fund for Islamic Art and Culture, the Eric Schroeder Fund, and the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture.

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