Masterworks of Asian Art Author:Michael Cunningham From the time of Marco Polo's journeys and the legendary Silk Road, the ancient cultures of Asia have fascinated and enriched the West. Now, at the end of the twentieth century, interest in Asian art and thought has never been more intense. Presented here are the highlights of the Cleveland Museum of Art's celebrated collection of Asian art, the... more » range and quality of which have been made possible by a steadfast commitment that dates from the founding of the museum in 1913. Demonstrating a breadth of vision that was unusual for the time, the museum sought not only the arts of China and Japan, then beginning to acquire a presence in America's young museums, but also those of Korea, India, and Southeast Asia. In the intervening three-quarters of a century this interest was cultivated by a series of generous collectors and gifted curators, including the museum's third director, Sherman E. Lee, who gradually built one of the premier collections of Asian art in the West. Masterworks of Asian Art presents for the first time more than one hundred of the finest objects in full color, including Chinese paintings and textiles, traditional Japanese ink-paintings and medieval stoneware, and superb examples of Cambodian and early Indian stone sculpture. The commentaries reflect the latest scholarship in the field, and an introduction by Michael R. Cunningham, curator of Japanese and Korean Art, recounts the history of the collection's formation in detail.« less