When University of Maryland medical school graduate Giraud Foster became the personal physician to the king of Yemen in 1961, he developed a strong interest in that ancient land and a passion for archaeology that stayed with him for life.
Between 1961 and 1971, Foster and his wife, Carolyn, acquired more than 60 sculptures, statues, relief carvings and other treasures from the South Arabian peninsula - the area now known as Yemen - including two given to them by the last king, Imam Ahmed.
Consisting mostly of calcite-alabaster carvings of human faces and exotic animal figures created up to 2,400 years ago, the works represent one of the largest and most impressive collections of South Arabian artifacts outside of Yemen.
For decades, these priceless artifacts remained in the Fosters' private collection. But two years ago, the Fosters decided to share them with the world by donating them to the Walters Art Museum, the Baltimore institution that sponsored one of the excavations in which Foster later took part. It is one of the largest gifts the city-owned museum has ever received.
The Walters, in turn, has made the Fosters' King and I adventure and collection the starting point for a comprehensive exhibit that puts a human face, literally, on a distant civilization most Americans never see.
Faces of Ancient Arabia: The Giraud & Carolyn Foster Collection of South Arabian Art opens today and runs through Sept. 7 in the Special Exhibition galleries of the museum at 600 N. Charles St. The opening of the exhibit, which is free of charge, marks the formal announcement of the Fosters' generous gift and provides a new component to the ancient art collection of the museum, which prides itself on presenting "55 centuries of art" from around the world.
The Foster Collection instantly gives the Walters the largest assemblage of South Arabian artifacts in the United States and makes it one of only a handful of museums around the world to present art from this region in a comprehensive way. "Due to the generosity of the Fosters, visitors to the Walters will be able to enjoy the exotic, strangely modern-looking alabaster sculpture of ancient Southern Arabia for years to come," said museum director Gary Vikan. "These impressive artifacts will bring to life the art and history of a fascinating civilization of the ancient world, largely unknown to most Westerners."
