Paul Walter: Collector and Donor

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Paul Walter (1935-2017) was a prodigious collector of all kinds of fine art, with a special emphasis on the arts of Asia, as was chronicled in Dr. Pratapaditya Pal's affectionate memorial, Paul Walter: Personal Memories. He was also, as Dr. Pal described, an extraordinarily generous donor. This on-line exhibition is designed as an extension of Dr. Pal's article, where we show a few of the many donations of Asian works of art donated by Paul Walter to several of the great museums of the United States. First are shown donations to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the then the Allen Memorial Art Museum of Oberlin College, Mr. Walter's alma mater; both collections were greatly enriched by large numbers of donations in many fields of art. The last section shows a few of his donations to other institutions, including a beautiful Kishangarh painting that was in fact sold to the Boston Museum of fine art from Mr. Walter's collection, and an interesting vase now in the Brooklyn Museum, which, although made by a British artist, seems to express themes and styles from several Asian cultures. The breadth of the cultures represented in the few items shown here reflect only a portion of Paul Walter's interests in art from around the world.

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