CategoriesCultural and Religious Styles
Cambodian Art
Khmer art from pre-Angkor sandstone gods and the temples of Angkor to the rebuilding of Cambodian art after the Khmer Rouge.
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Khmer art reached its height under the Angkor empire, founded in 802, but its roots lie in the earlier kingdoms of Funan and Chenla, whose sandstone Hindu gods of the 6th and 7th centuries stand with a supple, lifelike poise. At Angkor, kings raised temple-mountains representing Mount Meru. Banteay Srei (967) is small and dense with fine carving in pinkish sandstone; Angkor Wat, built for Suryavarman II in the early 12th century, has long galleries of low relief, including the Churning of the Ocean of Milk. Under the Buddhist king Jayavarman VII, around 1200, the Bayon gained its towers of calm faces. Casters produced large bronzes too, such as the reclining Vishnu from the West Mebon.
Later centuries turned to Theravada Buddhism, wooden images and patterned silk. The Khmer Rouge regime of 1975–79 killed many artists, and survivors rebuilt: Vann Nath painted his imprisonment at S-21, and Sopheap Pich now sculpts in rattan and bamboo.
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