Gandhar Style of Art is also known as Greco – Roman, Greco-Buddhist, Indo – Greek etc. Indians developed this form of art. It was developed in Gandhar area of India so, it is called Gandhara style of art. Indian craftsmen came in contact with Asian, Greek and Roman craftsmen. Resultantly this style originated. In this style, Buddha’s statues were made in combination of Greek and Roman style.
The salient features of this style are as follows:
1. In Gandhara style, Buddha’s statues were made in Greek style which looked like Greek god Apollo.
2. Its subject matter was Indian while the craftsmanship was Greek.
3. The statues made in this style, are mostly decorated with Greek style make-up and jewellery. They were made of brown and grey stones, later on lime and plaster was used for making these statues.
4. In this style, efforts were made to give real look to the statues i.e., curly hair, long moustache, clothes etc.
5. This is a great contribution of Kushan king Kanishka and the Kushana era.
