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Hiram W. Woodward Jr.

Portrait of Hiram W.  Woodward Jr.

A leading expert in Thai, Burmese and Khmer Arts history, Hiram W. Woodward Jr., ​“Woody”, (b. Baltimore, Md., USA) fostered one of the main Asian art collections worldwide when he was the The Walters Arts Museum, 1986 – 2003. Since his retirement in 2003, he is Curator Emeritus of Asian Art at Walters.

After studying in the US (Harvard College), London and Bangkok — he has served in the Peace Corps in Thailand 1963 – 1966 –, he taught History of Art at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, from 1972 until the late 1980s. He married Ann D. Woodward, curator of the Visual Resources Collection at the art history department of Johns Hopkins University.

In 2013, a chair holding his name (The Hiram W. Woodward Jr.) was founded at SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies), University of London. His bibliography (see here) remains an ongoing reference for scholars and art lovers worldwide.

hiram-woodward-bio2.jpg#asset:3361
Photo: with Nisa Sheanakul circa 1965, while he was an English teacher at the Faculty of Archaeology, Silpakorn University, Bangkok (The Walters Art Museum).

Publications

[expanded from ​“A Curator’s Choice: Essays in Honor of Hiram W. Woodward, Jr. (2006÷2007)”, The Journal of the Walters Art Museum 64⁄65, 2006/2007, pp. 8 – 12.]

  1. [with Chira Chongkol] Guide to the U‑Thong National Museum, Suphanburi. Bangkok: Fine Arts Department, 1966.
  2. “The Art and Architecture of the Ayudhya Period.” Sinlapakam samai ​‘Ayutthaya, Bangkok: Fine Arts Department, 1970: 61 – 66.
  3. “The Buddha’s Radiance.” Journal of the Siam Society (JSS) 61 – 1, Jan. 1973: 187 – 91.
  4. “A Chinese Silk Depicted at Candi Sewu,” in Economic Exchange and Social Interaction in Southeast Asia, ed. Karl L. Hutterer, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies, 1977: 233 – 43.
  5. “Review Article: Two Shrine Chronicle Translations.”, JSS 65 – 2, July 1977: 199 – 205.
  6. “Art History: Accomplishments and Opportunities, Hopes and Fears.” In The Study of Thailand, ed. Eliezer Ayal, Athens: Ohio University Center for International Studies, Southeast Asia Program, 1978: 67 – 114.
  7. “The Dating of Sukhothai ancf Sawankhalok Ceramics.” JSS 66 – 1, 1978: 1 – 7.
  8. [editor and contributor] ​“Introduction” and entries nos. 7, 23, 52, 70 in Eighty Works in the Collection of the University of Michigan Museum of Art: A Handbook, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Museum of Art, 1979.
  9. ”Acquisition.” Critical Inquiry 6 – 2, 1979: 291 – 303.
  10. “The Bayon-Period Buddha Image in the Kimbell Art Museum.” Archives of Asian Art 32,1979: 72 – 83.
  11. “Some Buddha Images and the Cultural Developments of the Late Angkorian Period.” Artibus Asiae 42−2÷3, 1980: 155 – 74.
  12. “Indonesian Textile Patterns from a Historical Point of View.” In Indonesian Textiles: Irene Emery Roundtable on Museum Textiles, 1979 proceedings, ed. Mattiebelle Gittinger with the assistance of Nina Gwatkin and Patricia Fiske. Washington: Textile Museum, 1980.
  13. [with Luis O. Gomez] ​“Introduction.” In Barabudur: History and Significance of a Buddhist Monument, ed. Luis O. Gomez and Hiram W. Woodward, Jr., Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press, 1981: 1 – 14.
  14. “Barabudur as a Stupa.” In Barabudur: History and Significance of a Buddhist Monument, ed. Luis O. Gomez and Hiram W. Woodward, Jr., Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press, 1981: 121 – 38.
  15. “Indian Painting, Burmese Sculpture.” In Chhavi‑2: Rai Krishnadasa Felicitation Volume, Banaras: Bharat Kala Bhavan, 1981: 21 – 24.
  16. “Tantric Buddhism at Angkor Thom.” Ars Orientalis 12, 1981: 57 – 67.
  17. “Borobudur and the Mirrorlike Mind.” Archaeology 34 – 6, Nov.- Dec. 1981: 40 – 47.
  18. “Some Buddhist Symbols and Their Ancestry.” In Kaladarsana: American Studies in the Art of India, ed.Joanna Williams, Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1981:165 – 73.
  19. “Interrelations in a Group of South-East Asian Sculptures.” Apollo 8 – 261, Nov. 1983: 379 – 83.
  20. “Queen Kumaradevi and Twelfth-Century Sarnath,” Journal of the Indian Sociery of Oriental Art 12 – 13, 1981 – 83: 8 – 24.
  21. Such an Awakening: Indian Sculptures from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Burlington: R.H. Fleming Museum, 1984.
  22. “Southeast Asia, the Humanities, and the Question of Relevance.” In Southeast Asian Studies: Proceedings of a Conference at the Wilson Center, ed. Ronald Morse, Washington: Wilson Center, 1984: 137 – 46.
  23. “Monastery, Palace, and City Plans: Ayutthaya and Bangkok.” Crossroads: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 2 – 2, 1985: 23 – 60.
  24. “The Movement of Thai Speakers from the Tenth through the Fourteenth Century: An Art Historian’s View.” In Papers from a Conference on Thai Studies in Honor of William J. Gedney, ed. Robert J. Bickner et al., Ann Arbor: Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of Michigan, 1986: 247 – 56.
  25. “Southeast Asian Traces of the Buddhist Pilgrims.” Muse: Annual of the Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Missouri-Columbia 22, 1988: 75 – 91.
  26. “Japanese Cloisonné Enamels: The Fisher Collection.” Arts of Asia 19 – 4, July-August 1989: 3 – 19.
  27. “The Laksmana Temple, Khajuraho, and Its Meanings.” Ars Orientalis 19, 1990: 27 – 48.
  28. “The Life of the Buddha in the Pala Monastic Environment.” Journal of the Walters Art Gallery 48, 1990: 13 – 27.
  29. ”An Overview of Asian Art at the Walters Art Gallery.” Orientations 22 – 4, April 1991: 32 – 37.
  30. “Ram Khamhaeng’s Inscription: The Search for Context.” In The Ram Khamhaeng Controversy: Collected Papers, ed. James R. Chamberlain, Bangkok: The Siam Society, 1991: 419 – 37. 
  31. Asian Art in the Walters Art Gallery: A Selection. Baltimore: The Trustees of the Walters Art Gallery, 1991.
  32. “Alexander Brown Griswold (1907−1991).” Archives of Asian Art 45, 1992: 94 – 96.
  33. “The Thai Chedi and the Problem of Stupa Interpretation.” History of Religions 32 – 1, August 1993: 71 – 91.
  34. “Influence and Change: Burma and Thailand in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries.” Arts of Asia 24 – 2, March-April 1994: 99 – 104.
  35. “Correspondence.” Archives of Asian Art 48, 1994: 77.
  36. “The Jayabuddhamahanatha Images of Cambodia.” Journal of the Walters Art Gallery 52⁄53, 1994⁄95: 105 – 11.
  37. “Thailand and Cambodia: the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries.” In Ruam bot khwan thang 72 phansa than achan Satsatrachan Mom Chao Suphattradit Ditsakun/​Studies & Reflections on Asian Art History and Archaeology: Essays in Honour of H S. H Professor Subhadradis Diskul, Bangkok: Silpakorn University, 1995: 335 – 42. .
  38. “South-east Asia, VI: Historiography.” In The Dictionary of Art, ed. Jane Turner, vol. 29, New York: Grove, 1996: 241 – 43. 
  39. The Sacred Sculpture of Thailand: The Alexander B. Griswold Collection, The Walters Art Gallery. Baltimore: Walters Art Gallery/​Bangkok: River Books, 1997.
  40. “The Sihing and Emerald Buddhas: Interpretations of Their Significance.” In Living a Life in Accord with Dhamma: Papers in Honor of Professor Jean Boisselier on His Eightieth Birthday, ed. Natasha Eilenberg, M. C. Subhadradis Diskul, and Robert L. Brown, Bangkok: Silpakorn University, 1997: 502 – 13. 
  41. ”Angkor and Ancient Cambodia.” Apollo 146 – 130, Dec. 1997: 40 – 41.
  42. “The Indian Roots of the ​‘Burmese’ Life-of-the-Buddha Plaques.” Silk Road Art and Archaeology 5, 1997 – 1998: 395 – 407.
  43. “Is There a Shussan Shaka in the Ryoan-ji Garden?” Kaikodo Journal 12, Autumn 1999: 33 – 42.
  44. “On Borobudur’s Upper Terraces.” Oriental Art 45 – 3, Autumn 1999: 34 – 43.
  45. “Practice and Belief in Ancient Cambodia: Claude Jacques’ Angkor and the Devaraja Question.” Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 32 – 2, June 2001: 249 – 61.
  46. [ed. with Pratapaditya Pal, contributor] ​”Artistic Production, Religious Practice: Material and Ideological Constraints.” In Desire and Devotion: Art from India, Nepal, and Tibet in the John and Berthe Ford Collection, Baltimore: The Walters Art Museum; London: Philip Wilson Publishers, 2001: 25 – 43.
  47. “The Ford Collection and the Interpretation of Tantric Art.” Arts of Asia 31 – 5, Sept.-Oct. 2001: 77 – 88.
  48. The Art and Architecture of Thailand from Prehistoric Times through the Thirteenth Century. Handbook of Oriental Studies, Section 3: South-East Asia, vol. 14. 2003; reprint, Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2005.
  49. “Esoteric Buddhism in Southeast Asia in the Light of Recent Scholarship”, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 35 (2), 2004: 329 – 354.
  50. “A Review Article: Esoteric Buddhism in Southeast Asia in the Light of Recent Scholarship.” Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 35 – 2, June 2004: 329 – 54.
  51. “Unwrapping the Package.” Orientations 35 – 3, April 2004: 78.
  52. “Temple: Buddhist Temple Compounds in Southeast Asia.” In Encyclopedia of Religion, ed. Lindsay Jones, 2nd ed., vol. 13, Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005: 9052 – 56.
  53. “Copper Alloy Water Jars and the Pilgrimage Sites of Banaras.” In The Ananda-vana of Indian Art: Dr. Anand Krishna Felicitation Volume, ed. Naval Krishna and Manu Krishna, Varanasi: Indica Books and Abhidha Prakashan, 2004: 419 – 30. 
  54. “The Buddha Images of Ayutthaya.” In The Kingdom of Siam: The Art of Central Thailand, 1350 – 1800, ed. Forrest McGill, Exh. cat., Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. Ghent: Snoeck; Chicago: Art Media Resources, 2005: 47 – 59. .
  55. The Art and Architecture of Thailand: From Prehistoric Times through the Thirteenth Century, Leyde/​Boston, E. J. Brill, Handbook of Oriental Studies, Section Three, South-East Asia (14), 2005.
  56. “Bronze Sculptures of Ancient Cambodia”, L. A. Cort et P. Jett eds., Gods of Angkor: Bronzes from the National Museum of Cambodia, Washington, University of Washington Press, 2010: 30 – 77.
  57. “Aspects of Buddhism in Tenth-Century Cambodia”, in C. D. Lammerts ed., Buddhist Dynamics in Premodern and Early Modern Southeast Asia, Singapore, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2015: 218 – 260.
  58. “Paul Mus à Yale.” In L’espace d’un regard: Paul Mus et l’Asie (1902−1969), ed. Christopher Goscha and David P. Chandler, Paris: Indes Savantes, 2006 75 – 89.
  59. “The Karandavyuha Sutra and Buddhist Art in 10th-Century Cambodia.” In Buddhist Art: Form and Meaning, ed. Pratapaditya Pal, vol. 58, no. 3. Mumbai: Marg Publications, 2007.

Book Reviews

  1. “The Ceramic Wares of Siam, by Charles Nelson Spinks”. Artibus Asiae 30 – 1, 1968: 93 – 94.
  2. “Ancient Cambodian Sculpture, by Sherman E. Lee”. JSS 58 – 2, July 1970: 179 – 85.
  3. “Mon nai adit lae patchuban (“Mons Past and Present”)”, JSS 59 – 1, Jan. 1971: 249 – 52.
  4. “Old Burma-Early Pagan, by Gordon H. Luce”. JSS 59 – 2, July 1971: 260 – 61.
  5. “Some Contribution[s] of India, by H.B. Sircar”. JSS 59 – 2, July1971: 262.
  6. “La sculpture indonésienne au Musee Guimet, by Albert Le Bonheur”. JSS 60 – 1, January 1972: 447 – 49.
  7. “Three Old Cities of Siam: The Monuments of Sukhodaya, Sajjanalaya and Gampengpet, photographs by R. Bunnag, introduction and captions by A. B. Griswold”. JSS 60 – 2, July 1972: 329 – 32. 
  8. “System and Meaning in East Sumba Textile Textile Design: A Study in Traditional Indonesian Art, by Marie Jeanne Adams”. JSS 61 – 1, Jan. 1973: 379 – 80.
  9. “Hindu Gods of Peninsular Siam, by Stanley J. O’Connor, Jr.” JSS 61 – 2, July 1973: 209 – 12.
  10. “The Sculpture of Thailand, ed. Theodore Bowie”. JSS 62 – 1, Jan. 1974: 275 – 79.
  11. “New Acquisitions of Three Bronzes from Buri Ram, published by Krom Sinlapakon. Exh. cat., Thailand: Bangkok National Museum”. JSS 62 – 2, July 1974: 371 – 75.
  12. “Early Burma-Old Siam: A Comparative Commentary, by H. G. Quaritch Wales”. Journal of Asian Studies 33 – 4, August 1974: 735 – 36. 
  13. “Art and Archaeology in Thailand: In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the National Museum, pub. Krom Sinlapakon”. JSS 63 – 1, Jan. 1975: 287 – 90.
  14. “La course de pirogues au Laos: Un complexe culturel, by Charles Archaimbault”. Journal of Asian Studies 34 – 4, Aug. 1975: 1079 – 80.
  15. “Sinhalese Monastic Architecture, by Senake Bandaranayake”. Journal of the American Oriental Society 96.2, 1976: 329 – 31.
  16. “The Art of Sukhothai: Thailand’s Golden Age, by Carol Stratton and Miriam McNair Scott”. Orientations 13 – 7, July 1982: 46 – 50.
  17. “Khmer Ceramics, ed. Diana Stock; Vietnamese Ceramics, ed. Carol M. Young et al.; and Northern Thai Ceramics, by J.C. Shaw”. Ars Orientalis 14, 1984: 140 – 42.
  18. “Later Ceramics in South-East Asia: Sixteenth to Twentieth Centuries, by Barbara Harrisson.” Journal of Asian Studies 56 – 3, Aug. 1996: 849 – 50.
  19. “Les statues du Buddha de la galerie de Phra Pathom Chedi, by Khaisri Sri-Aroon”. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 30, 1999: 405 – 7.
  20. “Art from Thailand, ed. Robert L. Brown; and Studies in Southeast Asian Art: Essays in Honor of Stanley O’Connor, ed. Nora A. Taylor”. Marg 25 – 2, Dec. 2000: 87 – 89.
  21. “Practice and Belief in Ancient Cambodia: Claude Jacques’ Angkor and the Devaraja Question.” Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 32 – 2, June 2001: 249 – 61.
  22. “Medicine in China: Historical Artifacts and Images, by Paul U. Unschuld”. Bulletin of the History of Medicine 76, 2002: 801 – 2.
  23. “Footprints of This Era in Thailand, by Virginia McKeen Di Crocco”. JSS 93, 2005: 300 – 306.

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