Left: Panoramic Map of Mount Wutai, 1846; woodblock print on linen, hand colored; Monk Lhundrub, engraver of Sanggai Aimag (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia); Cifu Temple, Mount Wutai, China; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art; gift of Deborah Ashencaen, C2004.29.1
Right: Chahar Mongolian headdress, late 19th century; silver, coral, turquoise, and other semi-precious stones; Inner Mongolia; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art; gift of Shelley and Donald Rubin, C2012.7.23a-c
A selection of objects from the Rubin’s collection are now on view at the Seattle Asian Art Museum (SAAM) as part of a five-year long-term loan partnership with the Seattle Art Museum. The loan consists of 13 masterworks on rotation, which are on display through 2031 in their permanent collection exhibition Boundless: Stories of Asian Art.
This addition of Rubin objects enhances the SAAM’s important collection of Asian art and helps the museum convey a richer narrative of Asia by including Tibetan and Mongolian art.
“This partnership between our institutions enables us to tell more complex visual histories of Asia,” shares FOONG Ping, Seattle Art Museum’s Foster Foundation curator of Chinese art. “I am also happy to be working with my longtime colleague and friend, Karl Debreczeny, whose deep expertise in Himalayan art adds nuance and a fresh perspective to the themes of worship and celebration, visual arts and literature, and clothing and identity explored in the Seattle Asian Art Museum galleries.”
Moving away from the chronological and geographic organization of most museums, Boundless: Stories of Asian Art groups objects across 12 themes to tell stories about Asia in a nonlinear narrative. The loan consists of Rubin collection objects made in Tibetan, Chinese, and Mongolian regions, including several paintings (thangkas), as well as a sculpture, illuminated manuscript, woodblock print, and headdress, all chosen by Rubin Senior Curator Karl Debreczeny in collaboration with FOONG Ping.
Sharing the Rubin’s collection and curatorial expertise is a central component of the Rubin’s decentralized, global model. In 2026 the Rubin’s collection sharing program includes long-term partnerships with the Brooklyn Museum, Lehigh University Art Galleries, Worcester Museum of Art, McMullen Museum of Art, Oglethorpe University Museum of Art, and Allen Memorial Art Museum.
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