Looking at Asian Art—A Symposium in Memory of Professor Harrie Vanderstappen
Arno Bosse on Feb 20 2008 | Filed under: Uncategorized
In his many years of teaching the art of China and Japan, Prof. Harrie Vanderstappen, “Father V” or “Father Harrie,” as his students and colleagues knew him, conveyed to his students above all the primacy of rigorous examination of the visual evidence and of knowing the work of art. That is the common legacy that his students share and that bridges their individual interests in the arts of China, Japan, Tibet and the Himalayan regions, Mongolia and other parts of the world, whether in ancient or modern times.
This symposium is organized by his students to acknowledge and pay tribute to his teaching and his contribution to the development of the Asian art collection at the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago. Prof. Harrie Vanderstappen taught in the Department of Art History from 1959 to 1991 after being awarded the Ph.D.from the department in 1955. In 1994 an endowment established the Harrie A. Vanderstappen S.V.D. Distinguished Service Professorship of Chinese Art History, a chair held since then by Wu Hung.
The symposium and related events are made possible with the support of the Japan Committee and China Committee in the Center for East Asian Studies and a generous gift from Dr. Mary Lawton.
