• Dedicated to the life work of Walter M. Spink through efforts of his many friends,
    this resource features, in a small degree, his scholarly work at Ajanta;
    highlights some of his creative writing; and provides insight
    to this well-loved scholar and teacher through the eyes of his colleagues.
  • Walter M. Spink
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Walter M. Spink

Ph.D. (1954) Harvard

Professor Emeritus, History of Art, at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He has published widely on Indian Art in general, and Ajanta and related sites in particular and continues to travel, lecture, and work at the Ajanta Cave site.

visit Walter on Facebook

an informal interview with Walter Spink discussing his life and work at Ajanta

conducted at his residence in India, 2010
videographer: Dominic Howe | Interview: Marcus Wise

CD Available on Amazon | Order Now

The Journey of Siddhartha

by Walter M. Spink

Recorded July 2014 at Solid Sound Studio, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Walter Spink: narrative | Marcus Wise: tabla | Bruce Hamm: sarod

sample one from the cd

The Journey of Siddhartha, written with the encouragement of Archibald Macleish when I was a graduate student studying Indian Art History at Harvard 1950-1952, owes much to the remarkable Buddhacarita, (the story of the Buddha) of the 1st-2nd century poet Asvaghosa, beautifully translated by E. H. Johnson (1928).

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AJANTA LECTURE
KOREA May 2008
Not so long ago, in 1956, I started publishing my ideas about the Ajanta caves for the first time.
SIDDHARTHA
a transcreation by Walter Spink
The Journey of Siddhartha, dedicated to my son Philip . . . the wonderful . . . poem on the Life of the Buddha
GALLERY
Art from the Ajanta Lecture
The breath-taking sculpture, painting, and architecture of one of the wonders of the world
A DISARMING STORY
an essay by Walter Spink
With a number of threatening new applicants . . . pushing into our once exclusive Nuclear Club
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
life as an educator
When Walter Spink was named professor emeritus in fall, 2000, he was off in a remote district of India
CURRICULUM VITAE
of Walter Spink
Ph.D., 1954 Dissertation: "Rock-cut Monuments of the Andhra Period: Style and Chronology”

Volumes 1-5 | 2005-2009

Brill Publishers, Leidin