The Breezewood collection is comprised of approximately 3,500 photographs depicting Thai art and architecture, as well as important examples of Burmese, Cambodian, Cham, Indian, and Indonesian art. The photographs were taken in the late 1940's and early 1950's. During the summer of 1972 Professor Walter Spink and Forest McGill launched an initiative with aid from the Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies. The initiative was to duplicate about 3,500 photographs from the Breezewood Foundation. Mr. Horst Schastok copied the photographs for the Department of the History of Art and the Southeast Asian Art Archive. The collection contains photographs of sculpture, decorative arts, ceramics, and paintings, many of which were never published as they are part of private or temple collections.
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Alexander Brown Griswold was born in 1907 and graduated with honors in 1928 from Princeton, where he studied art and archaeology. After Princeton Griswold did graduate work at Cambridge University and became a member of the investment firm Alex, Brown & Sons in 1930. When World War II broke out, Griswold served in the Office of Strategic Services in Thailand. After the war ended Griswold kept a home in Thailand, though he returned to the investment company from which he retired in 1964. Griswold continued his studies of Thai and Southeast Asian art, which resulted in his serving as a visiting professor at Cornell University and the creation of the Breezewood Foundation.
The Breezewood Foundation was established in 1955 and was housed at the residence of Alexander B. Griswold in Monkton, Maryland. The foundation's collection contains a large amount of Thai art and architecture but also includes important examples of Burmese, Cambodian, Cham, Indian, and Indonesian art. The Breezewood collection is composed of approximately 3,500 photographs duplicated from the Breezewood Foundation's holdings. The Breezewood Foundation's photographs were originally created in the later 1940's and early 1950's.
