Footnotes

This life-size sculpture of Buddha deep in meditation above a bed of kushan grass evokes the arresting power of good Gandharan art. His robe's naturalistic folds weave, wrap, and slacken around his muscular torso and posture, creating a dramatic visual contrast between their busy negotiations and the stillness of his expression.

The piece excels for its particularly attractive face, which is softly featured and more approachable than many, given Gandharan art's evolution towards abstraction. It has an endearing chubbiness, centered by the hint of a puckered smile eliciting the blissful serenity of Buddha's enlightened state. By contrast, later examples often register no emotion, with intersecting abstract planes to delineate the forehead and eyes, and a flat ridge for the nose (cf. Behrendt, The Art of Gandhara, New York, 2013, pp.68-72).

The present lot compares favorably to other seated examples that approach its size sold recently at auction, including Sotheby's, New York, 19 March 2014, lot 32, and Christie's, New York, 16 September 2014, lot 212; 19 March 2013, lot 202; and 18 March 2015, lots 4005 & 4015.

With universal appeal among collectors, the Gandharan style is a fascinating and accomplished idiom, testament to the cross-cultural origins and early spread of Buddhist art. Created by ateliers working in the Greco-Roman style that populated the region following Alexander the Great's invasion of modern-day Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Western China in 327 BCE, they drew on Mediterranean sculptural traditions when catering to the demand from local Buddhist communities for carved stone monuments and iconic statuary. The Gandharan style, in turn, formed the precedent for the earliest Buddhist images in China, via contact and exchange across Central Asian trade routes.

Provenance
Private US Collection, acquired in New York, 1990


片巖佛陀坐像
犍陀羅，三／四世紀
高99釐米（39英吋）

1,500,000-2,500,000港元

此真人尺寸石像描繪佛陀於禪定之中，結跏趺坐於吉祥草墊之上，展示了犍陀羅藝術的傳神風範。袈裟的刻畫寫實亦富於動感，柔軟地附著於佛陀健碩的身軀，其沉靜內省的禪定狀態與袈裟之戲劇性的視覺效果形成鮮明對比。

此件作品透過精湛的雕刻技巧表達出佛陀和藹可親的面容，在愈發抽象的犍陀羅藝術中實屬難得。其造型圓潤，略帶微笑，莊嚴而不生畏懼，慈祥而不可冒犯，形象生動，超凡脫俗。相比之下，犍陀羅後期作品則少有情緒的表現，五官的刻畫更顯生硬（參見 Behrendt，犍陀羅藝術，紐約，2013年，頁68-72)。

相比於近期在市場上出現的犍陀羅坐像，本拍品在藝術表現上更勝一籌，參見紐約蘇富比於2014年3月19日（拍品32號）、紐約佳士得於2013年3月19日（拍品4005號）、2014年9月16日（拍品212號）、2015年3月18日（拍品4015號）的拍賣。

犍陀羅藝術高雅迷人，乃佛教藝術跨文化起源與早期傳承之遺證，深受全球收藏家青睞。公元前327年，阿歷山大大帝入侵現今巴基斯坦、阿富汗及中國西部等地，藝術家借鑒地中海雕塑傳統，以希臘羅馬風格進行創作，以滿足當地佛教群體對石碑與佛像的需求。犍陀羅藝術進而通過中亞貿易交流之路影響了中國最早期的佛教造像風格。


來源
美國私人珍藏，於1990年購於紐約