Debuting the Charleston Collects series, this exhibition features selections from a major private collection of South Asian art in Charleston.

India, the birthplace of three major world religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and a country where Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have deep roots, has traditions of sculpture, painting, and architecture that stretch back thousands of years.

This rich and varied visual culture is reflected in the naturalism of Western influenced Buddhist sculpture from ancient Gandhara, and in the bold Matisse-like stylization of Indian painting in the 16th and 17th centuries illustrating Hindu subjects. From examples of early medieval Buddhist bronze to paintings by artists from the courts of the Muslim Mughal emperors, this collection represents the region’s diverse sources and traditions.

Guest curated by Daniel Ehnbom, Ph.D., professor of South Asian Art at University of Virginia