Guest Lecturer
Dr. Katherine Kasdorf
In 2019, the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) acquired
a richly detailed, double-sided folio that once
belonged to an album commissioned by the
emperor Shah Jahan (r. 1628–58), patron of the
Taj Mahal, toward the end of his reign. In this presentation, we
will take a close look at the DIA folio, as well as related works,
exploring its details, its historical and artistic contexts, and what
it tells us about imperial Mughal art-collecting practices.
Dr. Katherine Kasdorf is Associate Curator of Arts of Asia and
the Islamic World at the Detroit Institute of Arts. She received
her Ph.D. in South
Asian art history
from Columbia
University in 2013.
Prior to joining
the DIA in 2017,
she held a Wieler-
Mellon Postdoctoral
Curatorial Fellowship
at the Walters
Art Museum
(Baltimore). She has
published articles on
architectural reuse
in Hindu and Islamic
contexts in South
Asia, and on works
of Tibetan art at the
Walters Art Museum.
Complimentary
Admission
1120 E Kearsley St, Flint
810.234.1695 flintarts.org
The Sheppy Dog Fund, Dr. Alan
Klein, Advisor, presents topics of
art, religion, and history through
its funded lecture series.
An Imperial Mughal
Album Folio
4.27.22 6:00p FIA Theater
Mughal, Indian, Portrait of a Courtier,
Folio from the Late Shah Jahan Album
(verso), portrait, ca. 1650, borders
between 1650 and 1658; Opaque
watercolor, ink, and gold on paper,
151/4 x 10 inches. Museum Purchase,
Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund,
2019.98.B. Detroit Institute of Arts.
Upcoming Lectures
6.15.22 & 6.22.22
Real Books of Magic
7.20.22
Beautiful Death
11.9.22
The Search for the
Lost Shapira Dead Sea
Scroll—Was it Genuine or
a Modern Forgery?
12.7.22
Leonardo da Vinci, the
Last Supper, and the
Art of Throwing a Great
Dinner Party