The Art Institute's distinguished Asian collection comprises works spanning nearly five millennia from China, Korea, Japan, India, southeast Asia, and the Near and Middle East.

It includes 35,000 objects of great archaeological and artistic significance, including Chinese bronzes, ceramics, and archaic jades; Chinese and Japanese textiles; Japanese screens and paintings; Indian and Persian miniature paintings; and Indian and Southeast Asian sculpture.

The collection of Japanese woodblock prints is one of the finest in the world.