Oleg Grabar, a distinguished scholar of Islamic art and architecture and retired professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study, died Jan. 8, 2011, of heart failure. He was 81.
Grabar was born in France. He received a bachelor’s degree from Harvard in 1950 and a doctorate in Oriental languages and literature from Princeton in 1955. He taught at Michigan from 1954 to 1969, at Harvard from 1969 to 1990, and then at the Institute in Princeton from 1990 to 1998.
Grabar was a prolific scholar who wrote more than 30 books in English and French that have been translated into many languages. His book, The Formation of Islamic Art (1973), and the two-volume Islamic Art and Architecture, 650 to 1250 (1987), written with Richard Ettinghausen, are standards in the field. He also wrote more than 100 articles.
He helped expand the Western study of Islamic culture beyond the limits he found when he first entered the field. Grabar was a mentor to many scholars of Islamic art and museum art directors. He also directed excavations in Syria, Israel, and Jordan.
Grabar is survived by Terry, his wife of 59 years; a son; and three grandchildren.
Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.