The Museum of Art and Design's (MAD) "Doris Duke's Shangri La: Architecture, Landscape and Islamic Art" exhibition features a range of photographs, artwork, jewelry, architectural elements like doors, lighting and furniture that Duke acquired for her home. This is the first time the pieces have been on view to the public outside of Shangri La. It also includes work by six of its scholar-in-residence and artist-in-residences programs, which debuted in 2004.

Doris Duke, a lifelong philanthropist and patron of the arts, founded many charities including the Newport Restoration Foundation and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, in addition to the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art, which is the sponsor of this exhibition.

An heiress who was ahead of her time in terms of her cultural interest and Bohemian sensibility, Duke first discovered her passion for exotic styles on her around-the-world honeymoon with James Cromwell in 1935, which included a visit to the Taj Mahal. Duke commissioned Palm Beach architect Marion Sims Wyeth (and supervising architect H. Drewry Baker) for her 14,000 square foot home and outlying buildings, on the five-acre property in Honolulu.

Duke and Cromwell at Shangri La in 1939, photograph by Martin Munkacsi

Donald Albrecht and Tom Mellins, guest co-curators of the exhibition, are also the co-authors of Doris Duke's Shangri La: A House in Paradise, with photography by Tim Street-Porter, out this month from Rizzoli. 2012 also marks the centennial of Duke's birth.

Bathroom in Mughal Suite at Shangri La framed by carved wood and ivory doors, photographed by Tim Street-Porter

Afruz Amighi (b. 1974)

Zakariya Amataya (b. 1975)

Emre Huner (b. 1977)

Walid Raad (b. 1967)

Shahzia Sikander (b. 1969)

Mohamed Zakariya (b. 1942)

The Shangri La dining room features tent panels reinstalled from Egypt and India, photograph by Tim Street-Porter.

The exhibition will continue to the following stops: 

March 16 – July 15, 2013: Norton Museum of Art, Palm Beach

Aug. 29, 2013 – Jan. 5, 2014: Nasher Museum of Art, Dallas


Jan. 25 – May 4, 2014: Univ. of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor

May 31 – Sept. 7, 2014: Nevada Museum of Art, Reno

Oct. 23 – Dec. 28, 2014: Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery

March 4 – July 5, 2015: Honolulu Academy of the Arts