Aryan Books

STYLISTICS OF EARLY KHMER ART (Set of 2 Vols.)

By :- Mireille Benisti

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Pages: xxxvi+388

Format: HB

ISBN-13: 978-81-7305-256-9

Place: New Delhi

Edition: 1st

Publisher: ARYAN BOOKS INTERNATIONAL

Size: 22cm x 28cm

Product Year: 2003

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Mireille Benisti had made the study of stylistics of early Khmer and Indian art her life work. The present volume contains translations of Benisti?s major publications dealing with Khmer art. The main article is a study of the relations between early Khmer and Indian art, i.e. 7th and 8th centuries, the crucial period of the introduction of Indian religion and other components of Indian culture in the first well-organized kingdom of Khmer land. She has refereed to the process of transfer of concepts and motifs; movable objects, such as statues, caskets, rituals objects, etc., transported from India to Khmer land and their decoration which could have inspired local artists. Madame Benisti held that art is a living entity and that it is always in a state of transformation. In this context, she has pointed out links and transitions between different styles, moments of evolution in which a particular style abandoned some characters and adopted the primitive aspect of new characters of a later style. Several articles contained in this volume bring to light moments of transition from one style to another. She has given precise definitions and analysis of decorative motifs - the bezelband, the makara, the voluted leaf, the beaded garland, pendant, etc. Her systematic survey of styles, along with detailed study of iconography, thus provides a solid foundation for a comprehensive study of Khmer art. The works of Mireille Benisti are exemplary from the point of view of refinement of methods. She will remain a prominent figure among the French Indologists of the late 20th century, who displayed a perception into the stylistics and iconography of both Indian and Khmer art.

Preface, Table of Plates, I. Relations Between Early Khmer and Indian Art II. Research on Early Khmer Art III. Notes on Khmer Iconography 1. Two nautical scenes 2. An offering scene 3. On a lintel of Sambor Prei Kuk 4. Concerning a lintel from Vat Baset 5. Krsna and Kesin 6. The Buddhist lintel in Prasat Crap 7. Karaikkalammaiyar 8. Vat Preah Theat lintel 9. Yeai Pu pediment 10. First representation of Sri Lakshmi 11. Ba Kan slab sculpted on both sides

Mireille Benisti (1909-1993) was a French Indologist. She was trained by scholars such as Philippe Stern and Paul Mus who marked the first half of the twentieth century- the first by his systematic method of style analysis in history of art, the second by his deep insights in the history of Buddhism and in the conceptions of religious monuments such as the stupa. In the same line, she had been the leading researcher and author in the second half of twentieth century in the fields of Buddhist art of India and the expansion of Indian art in Combodia. Her contribution is basically in the domain of stylistics and extends also to iconography as well as to textual sources in Sanskrit. She had authored major books like Relations between the first Khmer Art and Indian Art; Contribution to the study of the Indian Buddhist stupa : The minor stupas of Bodh-Gaya and Ratnagiri. IGNCA has also published her book entitled Stylistics of Buddhist Art in India, in 2 vols. In 2003. She had published a number of articles, on the stupa, on decorative motifs in Buddhist and Hindu art of India and Cambodia, on iconography in both areas, etc., leaving a rich harvest of facts, a model of method and a lot of innovative ideas.

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