TEHRAN (IBNA) -- ‘Studies in Islamic Painting, Epigraphy and Decorative Arts’ (2021) by Bernard ‎O’Kane Professor of Islamic Art and Architecture at the American University in Cairo ‎has been published by Edinburgh University. ‎
Winner of the award of Iranian Farabi International Festival in 2017, Bernard O’Kane is the author of ‘Timurid Architecture in Khurasan’ (1987), ‘Studies in Persian Art and Architecture’ (1996), ‘Early Persian Painting’ (2003); and the editor of ‘Treasures of Islamic Art in the Museums of Cairo’ (2006). He also lived and researched in Iran for a time.
‘Studies in Islamic Painting, Epigraphy and Decorative Arts’ which has been published in 512 pages presents a carefully curated selection of key articles by O’Kane on medieval Islamic painting, decorative arts and epigraphy.
The book discusses masterpieces of Arab and Persian painting, in both albums and illustrated manuscripts;
Explores the rise of Persian poetry on works of art and architecture in Iran and Turkey;
Showcases the finest holdings of the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo and other collections;
Traces the development of monumental epigraphy and calligraphy in Egypt;
Includes over 300 photographs, many published in color for the first time;
This lavishly illustrated volume features 19 articles by Bernard O’Kane on a wealth of topics in medieval Islamic art. O’Kane examines controversial subjects such as the Siyah Qalam album paintings and major masterpieces of both Arab and Persian illustrated manuscripts.
He analyses Egyptian and Iranian examples of decorative arts including woodwork, textiles, ceramics and metalwork, from large-scale minbars to ivory boxes. And he explores epigraphic developments in Persian and Arabic, from the 10th to the 15th centuries in Egypt and Iran.