Brooklyn Museum. Department of Asian Art.

In 1903, the Asian art collection officially became part of the Department of Ethnology when Chinese and Japanese objects were transferred from the Department of Fine Arts. The Department of Ethnology's first curator was Stewart Culin who acquired objects in quantity and with variety. Culin's early trips to India, China, Korea, and Japan from 1909 to 1914 established the core for what would later become the Department of Asian Art.

Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the Asian art collection continued to develop and evolve. In 1920, the "Oriental collections" were separated from the ethnography collection and housed in their own galleries. Following Culin's death, Herbert J. Spinden was hired as the new curator of Ethnology and Tassilo Adam held the dual role of associate curator of Ethnology and assistant curator for Eastern Art from 1929 to 1931. In 1931, he became curator of the newly established Department of Eastern and Near Eastern Art. During Philip N. Youtz's tenure as the Director of Museums, the Oriental collections were dismantled and moved to its current second floor setting. Under the direction of Laurance P. Roberts, the name of the department was changed from Eastern and Near Eastern Art to the Department of Oriental Art in 1934. The Department of Oriental Art was again renamed in 1988 to the Department of Asian Art.

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