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Lot Essay
The present work was undoubtedly painted in situ, circa 1887, during Edwin Lord Weeks' second expedition to India. The two principal foreground figures in the composition were subsequently incorporated into one of Edwin Lord Week's most important monumental paintings, The hour of prayer at the Pearl Mosque, Agra (79 x 116 in.), executed circa 1889. This latter work was first exhibited as, L'heure de la prière dans la mosqué de Perle à Agra, (no. 2713) at the Paris Salon of 1889, where Weeks was awarded a Gold Medal.
The figures in the present study were replicated precisely in the massive Hour of prayer and are featured very prominently as two holy men resting on the edge of the large pool, or 'tank', in the courtyard of the great, white marble mosque, while other figures are turned in prayer towards the shadowed, arched portico. These two figures convey an air of informality, which contrasts pleasingly with both the regimented figures in prayer and the formal architecture of the Pearl Mosque itself. It is entirely likely that the two men posed for Weeks, and the size of the present study suggests that Weeks may have already envisaged its inclusion in its final composition.
This study captures Weeks' great naturalism, and clearly demonstrates once again his fine balance between acute draughtsmanship and painterly manipulation of form.
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.
The figures in the present study were replicated precisely in the massive Hour of prayer and are featured very prominently as two holy men resting on the edge of the large pool, or 'tank', in the courtyard of the great, white marble mosque, while other figures are turned in prayer towards the shadowed, arched portico. These two figures convey an air of informality, which contrasts pleasingly with both the regimented figures in prayer and the formal architecture of the Pearl Mosque itself. It is entirely likely that the two men posed for Weeks, and the size of the present study suggests that Weeks may have already envisaged its inclusion in its final composition.
This study captures Weeks' great naturalism, and clearly demonstrates once again his fine balance between acute draughtsmanship and painterly manipulation of form.
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.