Asian art includes a vast range of arts from various cultures, regions, and religions across the continent of

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

East Asian art The history of Asian art includes a vast range of arts from various cultures, regions, and religions across the continent of Asia. The major regions of Asia include East Asia, East, Southeast Asia, Southeast, South Asia, South, Central Asia, C ...

includes works from China, Japan, and Korea, while Southeast Asian art includes the arts of Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. South Asian art encompasses the arts of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

, while Central Asian art primarily consists of works by the

Turkic peoples Turkic peoples are a collection of diverse ethnic groups of West Asia, West, Central Asia, Central, East Asia, East, and North Asia as well as parts of Europe, who speak Turkic languages.. "Turkic peoples, any of various peoples whose members ...

of the

Eurasian Steppe The Eurasian Steppe, also called the Great Steppe or The Steppes, is the vast steppe ecoregion of Eurasia in the temperate grasslands, savannas and shrublands biome. It stretches through Manchuria, Mongolia, Xinjiang, Kazakhstan, Siberia, Europea ...

. West Asian art encompasses the arts of the

Near East The Near East () is a transcontinental region around the Eastern Mediterranean encompassing the historical Fertile Crescent, the Levant, Anatolia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and coastal areas of the Arabian Peninsula. The term was invented in the 20th ...

, including the ancient art of

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

, and more recently becoming dominated by

Islamic art Islamic art is a part of Islamic culture and encompasses the visual arts produced since the 7th century CE by people who lived within territories inhabited or ruled by Muslims, Muslim populations. Referring to characteristic traditions across ...

History

In many ways, the history of Eastern art parallels the development of

Western art The art of Europe, also known as Western art, encompasses the history of visual art in Europe. European prehistoric art started as mobile Upper Paleolithic rock and cave painting and petroglyph art and was characteristic of the period bet ...

. The art histories of Asia and Europe are greatly intertwined, with Asian art greatly influencing European art, and vice versa; the cultures mixed through methods such as the Silk Road transmission of art, the cultural exchange of the

Age of Discovery The Age of Discovery (), also known as the Age of Exploration, was part of the early modern period and overlapped with the Age of Sail. It was a period from approximately the 15th to the 17th century, during which Seamanship, seafarers fro ...

and

colonization 475px, Map of the year each country achieved List of sovereign states by date of formation, independence. Colonization (British English: colonisation) is a process of establishing occupation of or control over foreign territories or peoples f ...

, and through the internet and modern

globalization Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

. Excluding

prehistoric art In the history of art, prehistoric art is all art produced in preliterate, Prehistory, prehistorical cultures beginning somewhere in very late geological history, and generally continuing until that culture either develops writing or other met ...

, the

art of Mesopotamia The art of Mesopotamia has survived in the record from early hunter-gatherer societies (8th millennium BC) on to the Bronze Age cultures of the Sumerian, Akkadian Empire, Akkadian, Babylonian and Assyrian empires. These empires were later replace ...

represents the oldest forms of art in Asia.

By country

* Afghan art * Azerbaijanian art *

Balinese art Balinese art is an art of Hindu-Javanese origin that grew from the work of artisans of the Majapahit, Majapahit Kingdom, with their expansion to Bali in the late 14th century. From the sixteenth until the twentieth centuries, the village of Kama ...

Bhutanese art Bhutanese art (Dzongkha: འབྲུག་པའི་སྒྱུ་རྩལ) is similar to Tibetan art. Both are based upon Vajrayana, Vajrayana Buddhism and its pantheon of teachers and divine beings. The major orders of Buddhism in Bhutan ...

Buddhist art Buddhist art is visual art produced in the context of Buddhism. It includes Buddha in art, depictions of Gautama Buddha and other Buddhas and bodhisattvas in art, Buddhas and bodhisattvas, notable Buddhist figures both historical and mythical, ...

* Burmese contemporary art *

Chinese art Chinese art is visual art that originated in or is practiced in China, Greater China or by Chinese artists. Art created by Chinese residing outside of China can also be considered a part of Chinese art when it is based on or draws on Chine ...

* Eastern art *

Indian art Indian art consists of a variety of art forms, including painting, sculpture, pottery, and textile arts such as woven silk. Geographically, it spans the entire Indian subcontinent, including what is now India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, N ...

* Indonesian art *

Persian art Persian art or Iranian art () has one of the richest art heritages in world history and has been strong in many media including architecture, painting, weaving, pottery, calligraphy, metalworking and sculpture. At different times, influences ...

Israeli art Visual arts in Israel or Israeli art refers to visual art or plastic art created by Israeli artists or Jewish painters in the Yishuv. Visual art in Israel encompasses a wide spectrum of techniques, styles and themes reflecting a dialogue with ...

* Jewish art *

Japanese art Japanese art consists of a wide range of art styles and media that includes Jōmon pottery, ancient pottery, Japanese sculpture, sculpture, Ink wash painting, ink painting and Japanese calligraphy, calligraphy on silk and paper, Ukiyo-e, paint ...

Korean art Korean arts include traditions in calligraphy, music, painting and pottery, often marked by the use of natural forms, surface decoration and bold colors or sounds. The earliest examples of Korean art consist of Stone Age works dating from 3000 ...

* Laotian art * Persian-Sassanid art patterns * Philippine Arts * Sri Lankan art *

Thai art Thai art refers to a diverse range of art forms created in Thailand from prehistoric times to the present day, including architecture, sculpture, painting, textiles, decorative arts, crafts, ceramics, and more. While Buddhism has played a signifi ...

* Thai contemporary art *

Tibetan art The vast majority of surviving Tibetan art created before the mid-20th century is religious, with the main forms being thangka, paintings on cloth, mostly in a technique described as gouache or distemper (paint), distemper, Tibetan Buddhist wall ...

Turkish art Turkish art ( Turkish: Türk sanatı) refers to all works of visual art originating from the geographical area of what is present day Turkey since the arrival of the Turks in the Middle Ages. Turkey also was the home of much significant art pro ...

* Vietnamese art * Visual arts of Cambodia

Gallery

Image:Stone work at Konark Orissa India.jpg,

, The Sun Temple in

Konark Konark is a medium-sized town in the Puri district in the state of Odisha, India. It lies on the coast by the Bay of Bengal, 65 kilometres from the state capital Bhubaneswar. It is the site of the 13th-century Konark Sun Temple, Sun Temple, also ...

. File:Xiao and Xiang rivers.jpg,

, painting ''Xiao and Xiang rivers'' by

Dong Yuan Dong Yuan (, Gan: dung3 ngion4; c. 934 – c. 962) was a Chinese painter. He was born in Zhongling (钟陵; present-day Jinxian County, Jiangxi Province).Cihai: Page 599. Dong Yuan was active in the Southern Tang Kingdom of the Five Dynast ...

(c. 934–962). Image:Bayon Angkor Relief1.jpg,

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

n art, Stone bas-relief at

Bayon The Bayon (, ) ( ''BAI-on'') is a richly decorated Khmer temple related to Buddhism at Angkor in Cambodia. Built in the late 12th or early 13th century as the state temple of the King Jayavarman VII (), the Bayon stands at the centre of Jaya ...

temple depicting the Khmer army at war with the

Cham Cham or CHAM may refer to: Ethnicities and languages *Chams, people in Vietnam and Cambodia **Cham language, the language of the Cham people ***Cham script *** Cham (Unicode block), a block of Unicode characters of the Cham script * Cham Albani ...

, carved c. 1200 CE Image:Korean palace bldgs.jpg,

, Joseon dynasty palace architecture. Image:Yama the Lord of Death.jpg,

Dharmapala A ''dharmapāla'' is a type of wrathful god in Buddhism. The name means "''dharma'' protector" in Sanskrit, and the ''dharmapālas'' are also known as the Defenders of the Justice (Dharma), or the Guardians of the Law. There are two kinds of ...

Field Museum The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educationa ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. Image:Mandala gross.jpg,

Tibetan Art The vast majority of surviving Tibetan art created before the mid-20th century is religious, with the main forms being thangka, paintings on cloth, mostly in a technique described as gouache or distemper (paint), distemper, Tibetan Buddhist wall ...

Mandala A mandala (, ) is a geometric configuration of symbols. In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed for focusing attention of practitioners and adepts, as a spiritual guidance tool, for establishing a sacred space and as an aid ...

Image:Suphannahongsa bow.jpg,

, The bow of

Royal Barge A royal barge is a vessel that is used by a monarch for ceremonial processions, and (historically) for routine transport, usually on a river or inland waterway. It may also be known as a state barge, and may be used on occasion by other members o ...

Suphannahongse of Thailand

References

External links

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery at the Smithsonian InstitutionDevearts: an international platform for contemporary art from developing countries

*(http://www.sylvainlabestecollection.com Asian Art Collection at Priory of Sacquenay France)
Asia Society & MuseumAsian Art in Toronto
{{Asian topic, , art

History

By country

Gallery

See also

References

External links