What is "Islamic Art"?

Souren Melikan's New York Times article looks at the myriad artistic traditions and cultures that tend to be classified as "Islamic" in Western museums and galleries

Islamic art in New York

The new galleries of Islamic art at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art have just re-opened following a renovation which began in 2003.
This article in the New York Times reviews the new galleries

"The art itself, some 1,200 works spanning more than 1,000 years, is beyond fabulous. An immense cultural vista — necessary, liberating, intoxicatingly pleasurable — has been restored to the city."