Frederick M. Asher

Region of Interest	South Asia
Primary Country of Residence	United States of America
Title	Chair, Department of Art History
Affiliation	University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
Email	asher@tc.umn.edu
Mailing Address	University of Minnesota 338 Heller Hall 271 19th Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55455 USA
Phone/Fax Number(s)	Phones: 612-624-4500 612-624-3569 FAX: 612-626-8679
Countries of Specialization	India
Research Interests	Projects: 1. Indian artists working in traditional modes, particularly focusing on artists at Patharkati and their kin working in Jaipur; I am interested in how they procure their stone, how they interact with patrons or otherwise sell their products, how they evaluate quality, and all other aspects of their work. 2. The source of rock from which eastern Indian sculptures, particularly those of the Pala dynasty, were carved; I am purusing this by examining the petrology of samples from both sculptures and possible quarry sites. 3. The historiography of the discipline, that is, South Asian art history; I am particularly interested in the construction of the discipline along religious lines and the sense that seems to permeate scholarship that, in essence, the older the work the more interesting it is, or, conversely, the more recent the less interesting it is for art historians.
Publications	None on file.
Keywords	art history ; Indian artists ; traditional art ; Patharkati ; Jaipur ; historiography ; religion ; .