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Lot Essay
This painting is one of a series of fascinating views of urban street life which Edwin Lord Weeks executed during and after his first expedition to India. The present work is a characteristic example of these views. In this instance, a pair of mounted Rajput figures are seen examining inlaid wood boxes at a woodcarver's stall.
As is typical of the best of Weeks' street scenes, there is astonishing detail throughout the present painting. Equally characteristic is Weeks' preoccupation with the interplay of texture and surface; it is a tour de force of textures, from the smooth skin of the craftsmen, to the ornate costume and saddles of the horsemen, and the monumental carved teak corbels, balcony rail, and door. Indeed, Weeks was particularly taken by the wood architecture of the city of Ahmedabad, as he noted in his travel chronicle: 'The guidebooks and other works which we had studied before leaving Europe made but little mention of this city, and we knew next to nothing of the marvels of wood-carving with which its streets are lined.' (E. Weeks, From the Black Sea Through Persia and India, New York, 1895, p. 329).
Although Weeks is known for his handling of brilliant sunlight, this scene is rendered in diffuse light, reflecting characteristically narrow Indian secondary streets, designed to shield their occupants from the oppressive sun of the subcontinent. In this instance, the subdued light that infuses the present work reinforces the subtlety of Weeks' painterly handling of surfaces.
We are grateful to Dr. Ellen K. Morris for preparing this catalogue entry.
Dr. Morris will be including the present work in her forthcoming Weeks catalogue raisonné
As is typical of the best of Weeks' street scenes, there is astonishing detail throughout the present painting. Equally characteristic is Weeks' preoccupation with the interplay of texture and surface; it is a tour de force of textures, from the smooth skin of the craftsmen, to the ornate costume and saddles of the horsemen, and the monumental carved teak corbels, balcony rail, and door. Indeed, Weeks was particularly taken by the wood architecture of the city of Ahmedabad, as he noted in his travel chronicle: 'The guidebooks and other works which we had studied before leaving Europe made but little mention of this city, and we knew next to nothing of the marvels of wood-carving with which its streets are lined.' (E. Weeks, From the Black Sea Through Persia and India, New York, 1895, p. 329).
Although Weeks is known for his handling of brilliant sunlight, this scene is rendered in diffuse light, reflecting characteristically narrow Indian secondary streets, designed to shield their occupants from the oppressive sun of the subcontinent. In this instance, the subdued light that infuses the present work reinforces the subtlety of Weeks' painterly handling of surfaces.
We are grateful to Dr. Ellen K. Morris for preparing this catalogue entry.
Dr. Morris will be including the present work in her forthcoming Weeks catalogue raisonné