Muraqqa': Imperial Mughal Albums from the Chester Beatty Library (Hardcover)

Price $ 45

Can be purchased online from the Sackler Gallery shop

Though called an exhibition catalogue – it s a 528-page tome, with painstakingly researched essays by authorities on Mughal art. Dr. Elaine Wright, the main author and editor of the exhibition catalogue, is the Curator of the Islamic Collections at Chester Beatty Library, Dublin. Among the contributors, Wheeler Thackston is a lecturer at Harvard University, Susan Stronge is the Curator Asia Department at Victoria & Albert Museum, and Steven Cohen is a Textile Specialist and an Independent Scholar in London.

The catalogue is a gem – in all respects. Illuminating essays, great editing, and lavish layouts make it a must-have for collectors. Each painting on display is featured in the catalogue – together with all available information such as date of painting, date of borders, name of artist, name of the original album the folio is from, and an essay.

The ‘catalogue’ is an extensive study – a labour of love by Elaine Wright.

Exhibition Itinerary
The exhibition premieres at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC (May 3 - August 3, 2008). Subsequent venues include the Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan (August 23 - November 16, 2008); the Honolulu Academy of Arts, Hawai'i (December 17, 2008 - March 1, 2009); the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri (March 21 - June 14, 2009); and the Denver Art Museum, Colorado (July 4 - September 27, 2009).

Read the entire story in the July - September 2008  print edition of

The South Asian Life & Times

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