ISLAMIC COLLECTION ACQUIRED.Byline: Evan Henerson Staff Writer With its just-announced acquisition of a major collection of Islamic art Islamic art encompasses the arts produced from the 7th century onwards by people (not necessarily Muslim) who lived within the territory that was inhabited by culturally Islamic populations. , the Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, also known as LACMA, is the official and world-renowned art museum of the County of Los Angeles, California, located on Wilshire Boulevard along Museum Row in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. has doubled the size of its total Islamic arts Islamic arts Visual, literary, and performing arts of the populations that adopted Islam from the 7th century. Islamic visual arts are decorative, colourful, and, in religious art, nonrepresentational; the characteristic Islamic decoration is the arabesque. collection, allowing LACMA LACMA Los Angeles County Museum of Art LACMA Los Angeles County Medical Association LACMA Latin American and Caribbean Movers Association to match bragging rights with any fine arts institutions in the world, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. museum officials. ``The opportunity to acquire and exhibit these works of Islamic culture, deemed by scholars over the decades as being of the highest level of excellence, is profoundly satisfying, particularly at this time,'' LACMA president and director Andrea L. Rich said in a prepared statement. ``These beautiful and significant works of art will benefit all the generations who follow us, helping to build a greater understanding of the diversity of the world's cultures.'' The more than 750-piece Madina Collection, obtained from Columbia University professor Dr. Maan Madina, contains ceramics, tiles, calligraphy calligraphy (kəlĭg`rəfē) [Gr.,=beautiful writing], skilled penmanship practiced as a fine art. See also inscription; paleography. European Calligraphy In Europe two sorts of handwriting came into being very early. , textiles and glass items dating form the late seventh to the 19th century. The collection is also strong in metal work, glass, wood and stone. Regions include Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Spain and North Africa. Objects from the collection - which include a 12th- to 13th-century lamp, a late-13th-century wooden inlaid in·laid v. Past tense and past participle of inlay. adj. 1. Set into a surface in a decorative pattern: a mahogany dresser with an inlaid teak design. 2. door and a 15th-century Iranian tile - have been the subject of scholarly study since 1910. Some 31 articles from the Madina collection are on display in LACMA's Islamic art galleries with another 10 viewable on line. LACMA's commitment to Islamic art dates back to the museum's acquisition of the 650-piece Nasli Heeramaneck collection in 1973. That collection focused primarily on Iranian works. The Madina items will fill in significant gaps, says Dr. Linda Komaroff, LACMA's curator of Islamic art. ``It's as though the two collections were meant to go together to form one spectacular collection,'' said Komaroff. The multimillion-dollar acquisition was made possible by a gift from LACMA trustee Camilla Chandler Frost, as well as funds from the museum's Department of Ancient and Islamic Art. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Fritware from the 15th century has been glazed, cut to shape and assembled into a mosaic. It's part of the Madina collection of Islamic art, a gift of LACMA trustee Camilla Chandler Frost. |
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