Cosmophilia: Islamic Art from the David Collection, Copenhagen

February 1 – May 20, 2007

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Cosmophilia—literally "love of ornament"—examined one of the most characteristic and attractive features of Islamic art. Covering a millennium of Islamic history in regions extending from Spain to India, this comprehensive exhibition surveyed the extraordinary range and visual virtuosity of one of the world's great artistic traditions. Organized visually by theme, as opposed to chronologically or historically, the objects in the exhibition were grouped into five sections—figures, writing, geometry, vegetation-arabesque, and hybrids. The sections traced how artisans used major types of decorations and how these themes developed in different times and places. Drawn from the David Collection in Copenhagen, Denmark, Cosmophilia offered a rare opportunity for audiences in the United States to study one of the finest collections of Islamic art, both secular and religious.

Curator: Sheila Blair and Jonathan Bloom, Norma Jean Calderwood Chairs of Islamic and Asian Art at Boston College. The Smart Museum presentation was overseen by Anne Leonard, Smart Museum Mellon Curator, and Richard Born, Smart Museum Senior Curator, in the Richard and Mary L. Gray Gallery for Special Exhibitions.

This exhibition was organized in honor of Norma Jean and Stanford Calderwood by the McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, in collaboration with the David Collection, Copenhagen. Major support was provided by the Calderwood Charitable Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Patrons of the McMullen Museum. This exhibition was also supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

The Smart Museum's presentation of the exhibition was made possible by the generous support of the University of Chicago Women's Board and The Alsdorf Foundation. Significant additional funding was provided by the Smart Family Foundation and the Smart Museum's Board of Governors Exhibition Fund. In-kind support was provided by SAS Cargo.

Presented in the Richard and Mary L. Gray Gallery for Special Exhibitions.

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