Sheila Canby obituary

"For more than four decades, Sheila Canby, who has died aged 76 from complications of lung cancer, devoted her working life to Islamic art, and to the arts of Iran in particular. She published extensively, created groundbreaking exhibitions including several at the British Museum in London and oversaw the installation of new galleries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York."

"Between 1991 and 2009, she was the curator of Islamic art and antiquities at the British Museum. In 1993, she published Persian Painting, an introduction to the museum's important holdings. As in all her writing, she spoke effectively to both academics and general readers. Sheila believed in the role that museums could play in enhancing the understanding of cultures with difficult politics."

"Her first exhibition, Princes, Poets and Paladins, in 1998, introduced audiences to a dazzling array of masterpieces that included Persian, Mughal and Ottoman paintings from the magnificent collection of Prince and Princess Sadruddin Aga Khan, with whom she had forged a close relationship, and it was accompanied by an authoritative catalogue. Her second exhibition at the British Museum cemented her reputation, and confirmed the museum's serious engagement with Iran."

Sheila Canby devoted more than four decades to Islamic art, concentrating on the arts of Iran. She published extensively and produced influential exhibitions at major institutions, including the British Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She served as curator of Islamic art and antiquities at the British Museum from 1991 to 2009 and published Persian Painting in 1993. She believed museums could enhance understanding of cultures facing difficult politics. Major exhibitions included Princes, Poets and Paladins (1998) and Shah Abbas: The Remaking of Iran (2009), developed through long research trips to Iran and close professional relationships.

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