Art of Merit: Studies in Buddhist Art and Its Conservation

By David Park and Kuenga Wangmo

Buddhist art - its nature, creation, function, conservation and contemporary manifestations - was the subject of the Buddhist Art Forum, a major conference held at The Courtauld Institute of Art in 2012 and sponsored by The Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation. For the first time a representative group of those with a stake in Buddhist art - including art historians, conservators, curators and officials, a monk from Nepal and a contemporary artist - was gathered to address these issues. The twenty-eight papers in this resulting ground-breaking volume consider Buddhist art from the earliest Indian stupas to contemporary Himalayan thangkas, as well as its ritual use and audience, its tourist consumption in expanding economies, its often ill-conceived conservation, and its influence on modern and contemporary Western art. A stimulating range of viewpoints is expressed in this lavishly illustrated volume, making a genuine contribution to the awareness and understanding of these issues and developments that goes beyond regional and specialist boundaries.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1904982921
• ISBN13: 9781904982920
• Release Date: February 2014
• Publisher: Archetype Publications
• Length: 420 Pages
• Weight: 3.96 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 8.4" x 11.7"