"The Tablet and the Pen: Islamic Works from Turkey, Iran, and India"
2006-02-18 until 2006-07-23
Harvard University, Arthur M. Sackler Museum
Cambridge, MA, USA United States of America

Twenty-eight drawings primarily from the 15th through 18th centuries will be featured in The Tablet and the Pen: Drawings from the Islamic World, on display at Harvard’s Arthur M. Sackler Museum from February 18 to July 23. The exhibition offers a unique opportunity to understand how the medium of drawing emerged as a powerful and dynamic mode of expression in the eastern Islamic lands. The works exemplify the creative experimentation of Islamic artists in Turkey, Iran, and India through their underdrawings for painted compositions, drawings intended to transfer designs to other media, and finely executed and detailed works on paper that were meant to be autonomous pieces of art in their own right.

"This small but potent exhibition offers a fascinating glimpse into the motivations and mechanisms behind the construction of images in Muslim culture," said Thomas W. Lentz, Elizabeth and John Moors Cabot Director of the Harvard University Art Museums. "It also involved a great deal of research by students on a significant number of drawings from our collection, giving them the opportunity to reveal new information about material and technique, which in turn has led to a deeper understanding of artistic process and sources of inspiration for this unique visual tradition."

IMAGE
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.

Related Links:

Indepth Arts Resources for the State of Massachusetts

Other Important Exhibitions in United States