The Sadra publishing house with the support of the Islamic Culture Research Foundation and the Russian Academy of Arts has published a new work — the monograph “Islamic Art Formation” by Oleg Grabar.

From a young age Oleg Grabaer studied history and theory of Islamic art, including Islamic architecture. The academic method he developed, along with his articles, books, lectures, reports and academic notes had a significant impact on the views of his numerous disciples and on the diversity of many of his colleagues’ activity. The Islamic aspect got a comprehensive, manifold and relevant dimension in the world Islamic art studies due to professor Grabar’s efforts. 

Previously the art history of the Islamic world used to be treated from a europocentric perspective. Grabar’s objective was to find out how the art was perceived by its creators and work givers. This is how he opened a door to theoretical studies of the artistic culture of Islam both for himself and his followers.

The monograph “Islamic Art Formation” by Oleg Grabar, which was originally published in 1987, was translated into many European and Eastern languages. Although decades have passed, this monograph is still the major and the only work (in terms of comprehensiveness and complexity of the problems considered) on the history and theory of Islamic art, and it still excites the readers, posing new questions and presenting new hypotheses.