Donald Martin Stadtner is an American art historian known for his publications on South and Southeast Asian art. After completing his Ph.D. in the 1970s, he became a professor at the University of Texas in Austin and made multiple trips to Asian countries including India, Myanmar, and Japan focused on their art history and religious iconography. His research has frequently discussed Buddhist imagery and temples throughout the region. He has organized several exhibits in United States museums and other functions to showcase pieces and photos of his research, along with published books and art catalogues on the subject.
Education and career Stadtner completed his Ph.D. in art history from the University of California at Berkeley in 1976 with a thesis titled From Sirpur to Rājim: The Art of Kosala During the Seventh Century. He went on to become an assistant professor at the University of Texas in Austin that same year and later an associate professor. The countries his research covered caused Stadtner to be referred to as an "Oriental art specialist" by the Abilene Reporter-News. His early research was on the art of India, including temples and art connected to Buddhist traditions. In 1979, he went on a trip to India and Japan through a Fulbright Grant to continue his studies before returning to the University of Texas to teach in the 1980 fall term. His time in India was spent in Varanasi to study medieval Indian art. Stadtner was elected in 1982 to the art and archaeology committee for the American Institute of Indian Studies to help support the Center for Art and Archaeology.
Throughout the early 1980s, he focused on art in Japan, particularly on the work of Hokusai. After finishing his study of the artist's portfolio, he returned to the United States to do a lecture and exhibition tour throughout Texas on Japanese art in 1985, funded by the University of New Mexico and the Texas Arts Exchange. The summer of 1985, after obtaining a Smithsonian Institution grant, he spent several weeks in India and Burma to begin an archaeological investigation of ancient Burmese religious temples for both Hinduism and Buddhism in the area around Rangoon.
Collaborating with Sylvia Fraser-Lu in 2015, Stadtner organized an exhibit titled "Buddhist Art of Myanmar" at the Asia Society museum headquarters in New York City. They worked with the curator, Adriana Proser, to showcase different aspects of the Buddha throughout many periods of Myanmar's history with collection pieces loaned from Myanmar museums and various US organizations.
Publications Stadtner has published several books and numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals and co-authored two museum catalogues.
Reviews for Sacred Sites of Burma:
Personal life Stadtner lives in Walnut Creek, California.
See also Arts and entertainment in India Southeast Asian arts
References