Stuart Cary Welch Jr. (2 April 1928 – 13 August 2008) was an American
scholar and
curator of
Indian and
Islamic art.
Life and career
Welch was born to a prominent family in
Buffalo, New York. His maternal grandfather,
Norman Edward Mack, was publisher of
The Buffalo Times
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
. He began collecting drawings by Indian artists as a boy. He earned a bachelor's degree in
fine arts
In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...
from
Harvard University in 1950, then did graduate work there in
classical art. Because they offered no Indian or Islamic art courses at the time, he became an
autodidact
Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning and self-teaching) is education without the guidance of masters (such as teachers and professors) or institutions (such as schools). Generally, autodidacts are individua ...
.
His first paid position at Harvard was in 1956, as honorary assistant keeper of Islamic Art at the
Fogg Museum. He later developed one of the first curricula for Islamic and Indian art. He was curator of Islamic and Later Indian art at the
Harvard Art Museum, and from 1979 to 1987, he was also special consultant for the department of Islamic art at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art.
[Raynor, Vivien (December 21, 1979). Art People; Expert on India gets Met post.'' New York Times''] Welch taught at Harvard until his retirement in 1995, and he donated much of his collection to the school.
[McQuaid, Cate (November 19, 1999). Ex-curator donates 300 works to Harvard. '' Boston Globe''] A resident of
New Hampshire, Welch died of a
heart attack while traveling in
Hokkaido, Japan
is Japan, Japan's Japanese archipelago, second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost Prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own List of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; th ...
.
[Fox, Margalit (September 10, 2008)]
Stuart Cary Welch, Scholar and Collector of Islamic and Indian art, Dies at 80.
'' New York Times''
The remainder of his personal collection was auctioned by Sotheby's in 2011. On 6 April 2011, a single page from the
Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp (The Houghton Shahnameh) of which Welch was the leading scholar, was sold for 7.4 million pounds ($12 million).
Selected publications
*''Royal Persian Manuscripts'', Thames & Hudson, 1976,
*''Room for Wonder: Indian Painting During the British Period, 1760-1880.'' American Federation of Arts, 1978
*''Imperial Mughal Painting.'' Braziller, 1978
*''The Houghton Shahnameh'' (with Martin Bernard Dickson). Harvard University, 1981
References
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
The Stuart Cary Welch Collection, Part One: Arts of the Islamic WorldThe Stuart Cary Welch Islamic and South Asian Photograph Collection
at Harvard Library
Harvard Library is the umbrella organization for Harvard University's libraries and services. It is the oldest library system in the United States and both the largest academic library and largest private library in the world. Its collection ...
1928 births
2008 deaths
Harvard College alumni
American art historians
American art curators
Historians of Islamic art
20th-century American historians
American male non-fiction writers
20th-century American male writers
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