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 One of the most extraordinary professors of the 20th century will take FSU
art history students to strange lands and far away places this semester.
Oleg Grabar, respected across the world for his research on Islamic art and
architecture, will bring the holy lands to Tallahassee. Grabar will introduce the
history of Islamic art to students, and try to help them understand "why people
say 'wow'" when they look at a piece of art.
He has concentrated his research on finding out why people are impressed by
art, and he says he still doesn't know the answer. But he says he is sure it is
not because of the art, itself - it comes from something inside.
"What is it that you feel that makes you say, 'wow?' " Grabar asks.
He was given the opportunity to teach at FSU, like other big-name professors,
by the Appleton Museum in Ocala. Arthur I. Appleton, the creator of the Appleton
Museum, gave FSU about $2 million, which was matched by the state, to support
the eminent scholar program.
Grabar, a prolific writer who has taught at Harvard and Princeton, has been
called by colleagues at UCLA "one of the most creative and productive scholars in
Islamic studies in the second half of the twentieth century."
One of the attractions for him in Tallahassee is the presence of an old
friend, Gulnar Bosch, who created FSU's art history department and is now
retired.
The challenge in teaching undergraduates, Grabar said, is to "get them
interested in a world they don't know, and try to have them feel that they are
far away."
The goal for graduate students is similar. He said he hopes to alert their
senses to new ways of looking at art and cultures.
Going to strange lands has been a passion for Grabar since he was a child.
He comes from a family of scholars. He grew up around books, enticing him to go
to far away places.
The books Grabar has written concentrate on finding new ways to view the
ancient art and architecture of Islam. In his most recent books, "The Shape of
the Holy," and "The Dome of the Rock," Grabar takes ancient architecture, and
reconstructs the original buildings through pictures and computer programs.
Although it is impossible to recreate the original ancient city, Grabar said,
art lovers can fill in the gaps with their imagination.
With Grabar's originality, students will get a chance to delve into a
different world. And Grabar said he hopes to get some new perspective, too, by
using research done by students in his next book.
"A colleague once told me that undergraduates are like camels - put anything
on their backs and they'll carry it," he said. "They are wonderful guinea pigs."
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