Alfred Charles Auguste Foucher

Alfred Charles Auguste Foucher(1865–1952), was a French scholar, who argued that theBuddhaimage hasGreekorigins. He has been called the "father ofGandharastudies ", and is a much-cited scholar on ancient Buddhism in northwestIndian subcontinentand theHindu Kushregion.

Travels

He made his first trip to northeasternIndiain 1895. In 1910 he examined theGreat Zimbabweand theKhamiruins, proclaiming both were made byPhoenicians.His views on ruins in southern Africa are not considered accurate by modern scholars. In 1922 he was asked by the governments of France andAfghanistanto organize anarcheologicalco-operative which became theFrench Archaeological Delegation in Afghanistan(DAFA).

One of the first representations of the Buddha,Gandhara,in pure Hellenistic style and technique. Foucher considers such statues as Greek work of the 1st century BCE.

Foucher's most famous work wasL'Art Gréco-Bouddhique du Gandharain which he described howBuddhistartprior toPan-Hellenismwas principallyaniconic,representing the Buddha by depicting elements of the Buddha's life instead of depicting the Buddha himself. Foucher argued that the first sculpted images of the Buddha were heavily influenced by Greek artists. He coined the term "Greco-Buddhist art".

Foucher especially considered Hellenistic free-standing Buddhas as "the most beautiful, and probably the most ancient of the Buddhas", assigning them to the 1st century BCE, and making them the starting point of the anthropomorphic representations of the Buddha ( "The Buddhist art of Gandhara", Marshall, p101).

Following the mid-20th century discovery of Roman trading posts in Southern India, Foucher's argument was revised in favour ofRomaninfluence, as opposed to Greek.

New archeological discoveries inCentral Asiahowever (such as theHellenisticcity ofAi-Khanoumand the excavation ofSirkapin modernPakistan), have been pointing to richGreco-BactrianandIndo-Greekcivilizations in these areas, reviving the Hellenistic thesis. Nonetheless, his centralthesisthat the Buddha was ofClassicalorigin has become established. For a compelling counter-argument to Foucher's essay, seeAnanda K. Coomaraswamy,"The Origin of the Buddha Image".

Works

• « Ksemendra. Le Buddhâvatâra », JA 20/8e série, p. 167-175; 1892
• Étude sur l'iconographie bouddhique de l'Inde d'après les documents nouveaux, Paris, 1900,
• Étude sur l'iconographie bouddhique de l'Inde d'après des textes inédits, Paris, E. Leroux, 1905.
• L'art gréco-bouddhique du Gandhâra. Étude sur les origines de l'influence classique dans l'art bouddhique de l'Inde et de l'Extrême-Orient,2 t. [t. 1: 1905; t. 2 en trois fasc.: 1918, 1922, 1951], Paris, Imprimerie nationale (PEFEO, 5 et 6).
• « Notes d'archéologie bouddhique: I, Le stupa de Boro-Budur; II, Les bas-reliefs de Boro-Budur; III, Iconographie bouddhique à Java », BEFEO 9, p. 1-50; 1909
• « Notes sur l'itinéraire de Hiuan-tsang en Afghanistan », dans Études asiatiques publiées à l'occasion du 25e anniversaire de l'École française d'Extrême-Orient, Paris, G. van Oest (PEFEO, 19), p. 257-284; 1926
• The monuments of Sâñchî, (avec John Marshall), 3 vol., [Delhi, Government Press]; 1939
• La vieille route de l'Inde de Bactres à Taxila, (avec E. Bazin-Foucher),2 vol., Paris, Éd. d'Art et d'Histoire; 1942–47La Vieille Route de l'Inde de Bactres à Taxila: vol.1La Vieille Route de l'Inde de Bactres à Taxila: vol.2
• Éléments de systématique et de logique indiennes: Le Compendium des topiques (Tarka-samgraha) d'Annam-Bhatta, Paris, Adrien-Maisonneuve; 1949
• La vie du Bouddha, d'après les textes et les monuments de l'Inde, Paris, Payot; 1949
• Les vies antérieures du Bouddha, d'après les textes et les monuments de l'Inde, Paris, PUF; 1955

Further reading

• "The Buddhist art of Gandhara", Sir John Marshall, Cambridge University Press, 1960ISBN81-215-0967-X
• P.-S. Filliozat, J. Leclant (ed.), Bouddhismes d'Asie. Monuments et littératures. Journée d'étude en hommage à Alfred Foucher (1865–1952) réunie le 14 décembre 2007 à l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres (palais de l'Institut de France), Paris, 2009, 314 p. (with new bibliography of Foucher' works).
• A. Fenet, Documents d’archéologie militante. La mission Foucher en Afghanistan (1922–1925), Paris, 2010, 695 p. (Mémoires de l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 42),ISBN9782877542401.
• A. Fenet, « Les archives Alfred Foucher (1865-1952) de la Société asiatique (Paris) », Anabases VII, 2008, p. 163-192.