Artibus Asiae

Artibus Asiae
Title	Artibus Asiae
Discipline	Asian art history; Asian studies
Abbreviation	Artibus Asiae
Publisher	Museum Rietberg; E. J. Brill; Museum Rietberg Verlag
Country	Switzerland; Netherlands
Frequency	annual; biannual
History	1925–present

Artibus Asiae Artibus Asiae is a long-established scholarly journal devoted to the study of Asian art, archaeology, philology and cultural history. Founded in 1925, the journal has published monographs, critical studies, and primary-source editions that intersect with research on China, Japan, Korea, India, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and West Asia. Its pages have featured contributions by leading figures associated with institutions such as the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Musée Guimet, and the Rijksmuseum.

History

The journal was founded in 1925 by scholars connected to the Museum Rietberg and the publishing house E. J. Brill, emerging in the interwar period alongside contemporaneous initiatives at the British Museum, the Smithsonian Institution, the University of Tokyo, and the École française d'Extrême-Orient. Early editors included figures with ties to the Asiatic Society of Japan, the Royal Asiatic Society, the Berlin Museum of Asian Art, and the Institute for Advanced Study. During the Second World War and the postwar reconstruction, the journal negotiated relationships with publishers in Leiden and Zürich and hosted work by scholars affiliated with the School of Oriental and African Studies, the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Vienna.

Scope and Content

Artibus Asiae covers material culture, iconography, epigraphy, and conservation studies related to regions such as Tibet, Xinjiang, Bactria, Angkor, and Borobudur. Articles span analyses of objects in collections at the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Hermitage Museum, the Freer Gallery of Art, and the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco to philological editions concerning texts in Sanskrit, Pali, Classical Chinese, Classical Japanese, and Old Persian. The journal publishes monographs alongside shorter articles on subjects like Buddhist cave art at Dunhuang, Gandharan sculpture in Taxila, Japanese emakimono in the collections of the Tokyo National Museum, and Indian miniature painting from the Mughal Empire and Rajasthan. It also includes reports on archaeological excavations linked to the Archaeological Survey of India, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Editorial Structure and Publication

Editorial oversight has historically involved curators and academics from the Museum Rietberg, the University of Zürich, Leiden University, and the University of Hamburg. The journal’s editorial board has featured members connected to the Getty Research Institute, the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and the School of Oriental and African Studies. Publication cycles have varied between annual and biannual issues, with distribution through academic presses including Brill Publishers and later museum presses. Special issues have been guest-edited in collaboration with institutions such as the Rijksmuseum, the Musée Guimet, and the National Museum, New Delhi.

Notable Articles and Contributions

Landmark contributions have included philological editions of inscriptions related to the Silk Road, iconographic reassessments of Avalokiteśvara depictions, catalogues of collections from the Sung and Ming periods, and technical studies of lacquerware and metalwork from Heian Japan and Goryeo Korea. Scholars whose work appeared in the journal include authors associated with the British Library, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, the Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, and the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz. The journal has also published important reports on finds from sites like Bezeklik Caves, Tepe Narenj, and Sanchi and on manuscript discoveries linked to the Pelliot and Stein collections.

Reception and Impact

Artibus Asiae has been cited across studies in journals such as The Burlington Magazine, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Monumenta Serica, and Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. Librarians and curators at the New York Public Library, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and the British Library regard it as a key resource for provenance research and iconographic study. The journal’s long run has made it an important venue for debates involving methodological shifts promoted at conferences hosted by the International Association of Art and the Association for Asian Studies.

Indexing and Accessibility

Issues and monographs have been indexed in bibliographic services maintained by WorldCat, Scopus, and specialist bibliographies at the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Holdings are available in the collections of the Museum Rietberg Library, the Warburg Institute Library, the School of Oriental and African Studies Library, and national libraries including the National Diet Library (Japan) and the Library of Congress. Selected back issues and offprints appear in digitized form in institutional repositories associated with Leiden University Libraries and museum archives.

Category:Art history journals Category:Asian studies journals Category:Publications established in 1925