Frederick M. Asher was a specialist in South Asian art. His research considers the architecture of contested religious space and the issue of copying/originality in Indian art. His scholarship focused on issues related to art as commodity, particularly looking at patterns of trade as they relate to works of art in India, and the site of Bodh Gaya. He also examined present-day artists working in traditional modes both because they are interesting in themselves and because they offer models for pre-modern modes of artistic production; they further offer the opportunity to think about the role of the artist in art history that has focused primarily on the product. He was Editor-in-Chief of caa.reviews, the electronic journal of the College Art Association, President and Chair of the Board of Trustees of the American Institute of Indian Studies. He was also President of the National Committee for the History of Art, and South Asia editor for Archives of Asian Art.