SUNY Art History Lecture Examines Early Buddhist Art in China

NEW PALTZ — The Art History Association at SUNY New Paltz will host a lecture titled “Early Buddhist Art in China: The Problem of Influence” on Thursday, October 18, 2001. Stanley Abe, Associate Professor of Chinese Art and Art History at Duke University is guest lecturer. Abe specializes in pre-Tang dynasty Chinese religious art. His book, Ordinary Images, a study of common-class religious art in China, is forthcoming from the University of Chicago press.

The spread of Buddhism and Buddhist art from India throughout Central Asia to China has long been described in terms of diffusion and influence. The question that is seldom asked is why certain visual forms are accepted while others are not. What is the role of choice and of the specific interests of local patrons and makers of the art?

Stanley Abe will focus his discussion on the early Buddhist art of Northwest China. The works included in the lecture will be closely related to objects in the exhibition titles “Monks and Merchants: Silk Road Treasures from Northwest China, Gansu, and Ningxia, 4th to 7th Century,” opening October 13, 2001 in the Asia Society Galleries in Manhattan.

Dr. Abe’s presentation begins at 7pm in Lecture Center 112. This event is free and open to all. The Student Association of SUNY New Paltz funds the Art History Lecture Series.