Gandhara : The Memory of Afghanistan

Paris, France: Assouline, 2002. Book. Illus. by Illustrated. New. Cloth. First Edition. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Paris: Assouline, 2002. First edition. 8vo. Hard cover binding, 79 pp. Gandhara is a historic region in what was the northwest of ancient India, currently Pakistan and Afghanistan, that flourished in the first centuries A.D. with a hybrid of Greek and Buddhist Indian culture. The Gandhara school incorporated motifs and techniques from classical Western art while remaining Indian at its core. It includes the earliest examples of Buddha in human form, often with features resembling the Greek god Apollo. Magnificently sculpted statuary and friezes, many only fragments, are shown here, as well as the colossal Buddhas of Bamiya-enormous figures sculpted into a cliff face-that were recently dynamited by Afghanistan's Taliban regime. Each volume in this series of slim and handsome monographs uses full- and double-page photographs, undiluted with captions, to reveal a particular genius of design, art, or fashion. The quality of the photos is quite high, a foreword or preface by an author close to the subject establishes the importance of the work seen, and the illustrations are captioned in a thumbnail appendix..