Thierry Zéphir is a former student of Albert Le Bonheur (1938–1996), and a graduate of the École du Louvre where he now teaches the arts of India and the Indianized world.[2] Since 1991, he has regularly participated in the training of students at the Faculty of Archaeology of the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh. He is also the author of numerous books and scholarly articles.[3]
He curated several exhibitions including "Angkor et dix siècles d'art khmer" (Grand Palais, 1997), which for the first time brought together the masterpieces of Khmer sculpture from the Guimet Museum in Paris and the National Museum of Cambodia in Phnom Penh; "Trésors d'art du Vietnam, la sculpture du Champa" (in collaboration with Pierre Baptiste, Guimet Museum, 2005–2006); and "L'Âge d'or de l'Inde classique, l'Empire des Gupta" (Grand Palais, 2007).[4]
In 2019, he conceived the illustrated catalogue for "Buddha, The Golden Legend" exhibition curated by Sophie Makariou [fr], which took place at the Guimet Museum.[5][6]
Publications
Thierry Zéphir; Valérie Zaleski; Maud Girard-Geslan; Marijke Klokke; Albert Le Bonheur; Donald Stadtner (1994). L'Art de l'Asie du Sud-Est. Collection « L'Art et les grandes civilisations » (in French). Paris: Citadelles & Mazenod. ISBN9782850880629.
With C. Sivaramamurti, Amina Okada (1999). L'Art en Inde. Collection « L'Art et les grandes civilisations » (in French). Paris: Citadelles & Mazenod. ISBN9782850880735.
With Amina Okada (2007). L'Âge d'or de l'Inde classique. Collection « Découvertes Gallimard » (nº 506) (in French). Paris: Éditions Gallimard. ISBN9782070341610.
Angkor et ses temples (in French). Photography by Luca Invernizzi Tettoni. Paris: Les Éditions du Pacifique. 2005. ISBN9782878680928.
With Simon Delobel, Jérôme Ghesquière (2005). Missions archéologiques françaises au Vietnam : Les monuments du Champa photographie et itinéraires 1902-1904 (in French). Foreword by Jean-François Jarrige. Paris: Les Indes savantes. ISBN9782846541220.
With Pierre Baptiste (2005). Trésors d'art du Vietnam : La sculpture du Champa (in French). Paris: Réunion des Musées Nationaux. ISBN9782903808679.
With Pierre Baptiste (2009). Dvāravatī, aux sources du bouddhisme en Thaïlande (in French). Paris: Réunion des Musées Nationaux. ISBN9782711855506.
Bouddha, la légende dorée (in French). Paris: Lienart éditions. 2019. ISBN9782359062892.