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Lot Essay
The present painting, a finished work in its own right, is a beautiful example of Edwin Lord Weeks' Indian work, and was executed circa 1885. The scene depicts two Nautch girls, or native entertainers, emerging from a the doorway of a palace in the north of India, probably Udaipur or Agra.
Weeks was fascinated and charmed by the Nautch girls he encountered in his Indian expeditions, and they figure in numerous of his celebrated festive paintings. Displaying the allure of these young singers and dancers to full advantage, in the present instance Weeks renders their brightly coloured silk raiments and their sparkling toe rings, anklets, bracelets and necklaces in strong sunlight. Characteristically, Weeks sets these colours and textures against the deep shadows of the doorway and the subtle shading of the intricately carved white marble of the architectural backdrop. The contrasts of elaborately-rendered figures against precisely drawn architecture, and of bright sunlight with deep shadow, are hallmarks of Week's best Indian pictures.
We are grateful to Dr. Ellen K. Morris for preparing this catalogue entry.
Dr. Morris will include the present work in her forthcoming Weeks catalogue raisonné.
Weeks was fascinated and charmed by the Nautch girls he encountered in his Indian expeditions, and they figure in numerous of his celebrated festive paintings. Displaying the allure of these young singers and dancers to full advantage, in the present instance Weeks renders their brightly coloured silk raiments and their sparkling toe rings, anklets, bracelets and necklaces in strong sunlight. Characteristically, Weeks sets these colours and textures against the deep shadows of the doorway and the subtle shading of the intricately carved white marble of the architectural backdrop. The contrasts of elaborately-rendered figures against precisely drawn architecture, and of bright sunlight with deep shadow, are hallmarks of Week's best Indian pictures.
We are grateful to Dr. Ellen K. Morris for preparing this catalogue entry.
Dr. Morris will include the present work in her forthcoming Weeks catalogue raisonné.