Mehmet Ağa-Oğlu and the formation of the field of Islamic art in the United States

Abstract

The historiography of Islamic art has been the topic of several recent publications. While these studies have outlined the biographies and contributions of some of the prominent figures that shaped the field, there is still more assessment that needs to be done. One of the names often included in the discussions but never explored in depth is that of Mehmet Ağa-Oğlu (1896-1949), the first professor of Islamic art in the United States and the founder of the journal Ars Islamica. This article discusses the career of Ağa-Oğlu both in the United States and elsewhere, followed by a description of his unpublished work, the Corpus of Islamic Metalwork, which is housed in the Archives of the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, in Washington DC.

Keywords

• Mehmet Ağa-Oğlu
• Corpus of Islamic Metalwork
• Islamic art at Detroit Institute of Arts
• the Research Seminary in Islamic Art
• Ars Islamica
• Historiography of Islamic Art in the United States