The role of women artists, collectors, archaeologists, and architects in Asian art history

Filled with exquisite color illustrations, this volume examines an underserved aspect of Asian art history by discussing women artists, collectors, archaeologists, and architects. The essays in Women across Asian Art cover a wide geographical area, from Japan to Pakistan, as they draw attention to people whose efforts have largely been left out of scholarship.

The volume begins by looking at iconography representing the goddess Marīcī in Chinese art as well as ancient Chinese characters related to gender roles during the Shang dynasty. Contributors then discuss topics including women’s participation as hangeul (Korean alphabet) calligraphers, artists in Japanese Saison culture, and early archaeologists in China. Shedding light on individuals such as poet and painter Luo Qilan, collector Brenda Zara Seligman, architect Lin Huiyin, neo-miniaturist Saira Wasim, painter Tseng Yuho, and sculptor Tayeba Begum Lipi, these essays represent a broad range of contributions from pioneers in their respective fields to current-day activists.

Using primary sources, museum collections, and archival material, the contributors—curators and independent scholars—investigate their collections and fields with new strategies and present original research. As museums are intentionally turning their attention to overlooked narratives of women, this volume continues the important work of uncovering their stories in Asian art history.

A volume in the David A. Cofrin Asian Art Manuscript Series, edited by Allysa B. Peyton