Buddhist art followed the religion along the trade routes out of India, and every region remade the Buddha image in its own idiom: the Hellenistic drapery of Gandhara, the serene Gupta figures of Mathura and Sarnath, the elongated bronzes of Sukhothai, the cave sculpture of Yungang and Dunhuang.
Much of the foundational scholarship dates from the colonial and early post-war period — archaeological surveys, museum catalogues and the Thai Culture Series pamphlets among them — and it is still cited because it records sites and objects as they were found.
Where to start
Buddhist Art in India (in stock) — Albert Grünwedel, 1901. The pioneering study of Gandharan and Indian Buddhist sculpture, in Agnes Gibson's English translation.
The Buddhist Art of Gandhara — Sir John Marshall, 1960. The excavator of Taxila on the origins of the Buddha image.
The Art of Southeast Asia (in stock) — Philip Rawson, 1967. A Thames & Hudson survey of Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Burma, Java and Bali.
The Buddha Image: Its Origin and Development — Yuvraj Krishan, 1996. A focused study of how and where the Buddha was first shown in human form.
Books on Buddhist Art in stock (38)
Buddhist Arts, No. 3, 76 May 16: Pure Land Art Feature by Buddhist Arts Magazine — $28.49 Issue no. 3 (May 1987) of Buddhist Arts (佛教藝術), a Chinese-language quarterly published in Taipei by Buddhist Arts Magazine Press, devoted to Pure Land art.
Architecture and Art Treasures in Pakistan by F. A. Khan — $26.91 Architecture and Art Treasures in Pakistan: Prehistoric, Protohistoric, Buddhist and Hindu Periods is an illustrated survey by Dr. F. A. Khan, then Director of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Pakistan, published…
Four Famous Buddhist Mountains by China Travel & Tourism Press — $28.49 Four Famous Buddhist Mountains is an illustrated English-language book published by China Travel & Tourism Press in 1991.
Ajanta: Painting of the Sacred and the Secular by Madanjeet Singh — $28.49 Ajanta: Painting of the Sacred and the Secular is a book on the Buddhist cave paintings of Ajanta in India by Madanjeet Singh, published by The Macmillan Company, New York, in 1965.
Buddhist Sculpture in Clay by Christian Luczanits — $17.25 Buddhist Sculpture in Clay: Early Western Himalayan Art, late 10th to early 13th centuries is a study of early Buddhist clay sculpture of the western Himalaya by Christian Luczanits, published by Serindia Publications…
The Symbolism of the Stupa by Adrian Snodgrass — $32.99 The Symbolism of the Stupa is a study by Adrian Snodgrass, published in 1985 by the Southeast Asia Program at Cornell University as part of its Studies on Southeast Asia series.
Buddhist Art of India and Nepal by Krishna Deva — $28.49 Buddhist Art of India and Nepal is a lecture by Prof. Krishna Deva, published in 1987 by the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, Sarnath, Varanasi, as No. II in the Prof. Lalmani Joshi Commemorative Lecture…
A concise history of Buddhist art in Siam by Reginald Le May — $12.99 A survey of Buddhist art in Thailand by Reginald Le May, A Concise History of Buddhist Art in Siam, first issued in 1938 and here in the Tuttle edition (169 pages).
Latter days of the law: Images of Chinese Buddhism, 850-1850 by Marsha Weidner — $11.57 An exhibition catalogue edited by Marsha Weidner (University of Hawaii Press, 1994) on Chinese Buddhist art from 850 to 1850, covering the Song-Yuan and Ming-Qing periods, with a preface by Sherman E. Lee and essays by…
Images of the Buddha in Thailand by Luang Boribal Buribhand and A.B. Griswold — $34.65 Images of the Buddha in Thailand by Luang Boribal Buribhand and A.B.
Treasures of Asia: Painting of Central Asia by Mario Bussagli — $35.15 Treasures of Asia: Painting of Central Asia, by Mario Bussagli, published by Skira (1963), 135 pages.
Buddhist Art in India by Albert Grünwedel — $36.10 Buddhist Art in India, by Albert Grünwedel, published by Susil Gupta (1965), 228 pages, second edition.
Temples of Gold: Seven Centuries of Thai Buddhist Paintings by Sankti Leksukhum — $57.95 Temples of Gold: Seven Centuries of Thai Buddhist Paintings by Santi Leksukhum, with photographs by Gilles Mermet, translated from the French by Kenneth D. Whitehead (Braziller, 2001).
Chinese Monumental Art by Peter C. Swann — $30.40 A study of Chinese monumental art by Peter C. Swann, published by The Viking Press in 1963.
The Art of Gandhâra by Francine Tissot — $59.85 The Art of Gandhara by Francine Tissot, published by Maisonneuve in 1986 and subtitled Buddhist monks' art on the north-west frontier of Pakistan.
Buddhist Arts, No. 4, Oct. 16, 1987 — $28.49 Issue no. 4 (16 October 1987) of Buddhist Arts (佛教藝術), a Chinese-language periodical on Buddhist art.
Buddhist Arts, No. 2, 75年11月16日 1986 — $28.49 Buddhist Arts (佛教藝術), No. 2, is a Chinese-language journal issue dated 16 November 1986 (Republic of China year 75).
Buddhist Bronzes by Phoenix Art Museum — $71.70 Buddhist Bronzes (title page: A Collection of Buddhist Bronzes from Mongolia) is an exhibition catalogue published by the Phoenix Art Museum in 1969.
Central Asian Painting by Nobuo Kumagi — $28.49 Seiiki (Central Asian Painting), a volume in Heibonsha's Chūgoku no meiga (Famous Chinese Paintings) series, by Kumagai Nobuo (listed as Nobuo Kumagi), published in Tokyo in 1957.
Art of the World by Alexander B. Griswold and Chewon Kim — $28.49 The Art of Burma, Korea, Tibet is a survey of the arts of three Asian regions by Alexander B. Griswold (Burma), Chewon Kim (Korea) and Peter H. Pott (Tibet), published by Crown Publishers, New York, in 1964.
Angkor by Bernard Groslier and Jacques Arthaud — $30.38 The Arts and Civilization of Angkor is an illustrated study of the Khmer temples and art of Angkor in Cambodia by Bernard Groslier, with Jacques Arthaud credited on the title page, published by Frederick A. Praeger, New…
Pictorial Guide to Pagan by Archaeology Department — $28.49 Pictorial Guide to Pagan, second revised edition, published in 1979 by the Archaeology Department of the Ministry of Culture of the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma, with a fold-out map.
Painted Buddhas of Xinjiang by Jacques Gies — $6.39 Painted Buddhas of Xinjiang: Hidden Treasures from the Silk Road by Jacques Gies (Art Media Resources, 2003, 144 pages), a book on the Buddhist paintings of Xinjiang in the Silk Road oases of western China.
La Peinture Murale De Touen Houang by François Fourcade — $73.70 La Peinture Murale de Touen Houang by François Fourcade, published by Editions Cercle d'Art, in French.
Tsʻang chʻuan fo chiao tsao hsiang by 刘爱民 — $80.20 A Chinese-language illustrated book on the Tibetan Buddhist sculpture of the Eight Outer Temples at Chengde (Tianjin People's Fine Arts Publishing House, 1995, 123 pages).
Five Hundred Buddhist Deities by Musashi Tachikawa and Masahide Mori — $17.65 Five Hundred Buddhist Deities by Musashi Tachikawa and Masahide Mori, published by Adroit Publishers in 2000.
Ancient Art from Afghanistan by Benjamin Rowland, Jr. — $30.61 An exhibition catalogue by Benjamin Rowland, Jr., published by the Asia Society in 1966, on ancient art from Afghanistan.
Buddhist Art and Thought by Śaśibālā — $24.70 A book on Buddhist art and thought by Śaśibālā (Shashibala), published by Akshaya Prakashan in 2007 (312 pages).