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A Guide to his Papers at the Indiana University Archives

Finding aid prepared by Hannah Osborn

Summary Information

Repository
Indiana University Archives
1320 East Tenth Street
Herman B Wells Library E460
Bloomington, IN 47405-7000
Phone: 812-855-1127
Email: archives@indiana.edu
http://www.libraries.iub.edu/archives

Creator
Bowie, Theodore Robert

Collection No.
C697

Extent
5.8 cubic feet (7 boxes)

Language
Materials are primarily in English

Abstract
Theodore Bowie was a prominent faculty member at Indiana University, whose contributions to the field of the history of Asian Art made him a pivotal figure in the development of both the University’s Art History Program and the University’s Art Museum. This collection contains materials from both Bowie’s professional and personal career. Professional documents from his time spent as professor and curator include lecture notes, travel itineraries, copies of scholarly publications, departmental memos and correspondence, loan agreements for exhibitions, and exhibition catalogues. A large number of exhibition materials pertain to “The Arts of Thailand”, a traveling exhibition organized by Bowie that showcased previously unrecognized Thai art in the West. Accompanying these professional documents are Bowie’s personal correspondence, drafts of his memoir, and a large number of photos and exhibition scrapbooks.

Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research. Advance notice required.

Biographical Note

Theodore R. “Ted” Bowie was a prominent faculty member at Indiana University, whose contributions to the field of the history of Asian Art made him a pivotal figure in the development of the University’s Art History Program. Bowie’s research and travel in Asia would contribute to a number of acquisitions for exhibitions which he organized, and inform his work in the development of the University Art Museum. His exhibition “The Arts of Thailand”, opening at the Museum in 1960, would become one of the first of its kind to display Thai art in the West, going on to travel throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia.

Bowie was born in Nagasaki, Japan, in 1905 to a Russian mother and American father and grew up in both Nice, France, and San Francisco. Bowie received his bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley in 1927 and stayed on to earn his master’s degree in political science in 1929, and his doctorate in French literature in 1935. Turning from his early career in French literature, Bowie would go on to fulfill a number of roles relating to the study of art and art history at Indiana University.

Beginning his career at Indiana University in 1950, Bowie would serve as Associate Professor in the Department of Fine Arts from 1950 to 1960. He then served as Associate Professor in the Graduate School from 1952 to 1960, and Professor from 1960 to 1975. While at IU, Bowie would also serve as Fine Arts Librarian from 1951 to 1960, as an unofficial Curator of Oriental Collections at the University Art Museum from 1962 to 1976, as Acting Chair of the Department of Fine Arts from 1970 to 1973, and as Chairman of the Arts Administration Program from 1969 to 1972. He received the title of Professor Emeritus upon his retirement in 1975.

Theodore Bowie died of heart failure on March 5, 1995 in his home in Bloomington, Indiana in the company of his wife Marilyn (Miller) Bowie.

Arrangement

The collection organized into four series: Biographical, Correspondence, Professional-subdivided into research, publications and collected materials, and Photograph Albums. Folders within each series are organized alphabetically.

Scope and Content Note

The collection spans the years 1914 to 2008, with the bulk of the materials from 1930 to 1995. The collection includes items pertaining to both Bowie’s work and personal life. A large number of the items included were generated by exhibitions organized by Bowie, many for the IU Art Museum, and from his time spent as a prominent faculty member at Indiana University in the Department of Fine Art. Many of the exhibition documents, including gallery guides, catalogues, and installation photos, pertain to “The Arts of Thailand” exhibition in 1960, one of the first of its kind in the West.

The documents relating to Bowie’s professional life include lecture notes, travel itineraries, copies of scholarly publications, departmental memos and correspondence, loan agreements for exhibitions, and correspondence with fellow academics. Bowie’s research in the arts of Thailand, China, Japan, and the Islamic World is represented in many of his publications, lecture notes, and photographs. Bowie’s more personal files include an extensive series of correspondence with Charles and Piquette Cushing, select correspondence with his daughter Jocelyn, and Bowie’s drafts of his memoirs. Also included are many of Bowie’s colleagues’ publications, and a number of photos and photo albums including portraits of Bowie, images of him working and traveling, and installation images from shows at the Indiana University Art Museum.

• Indexing Terms

• The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in IUCAT, the IU Libraries' online catalog. Materials about related topics, persons or places can be found by searching the catalog using these terms.

Separated Material

Related Material

Related photographs, including images of the "Arts of Thailand" Exhibition, are available in the University Archives Photographs Database .

Administrative Information

Container List