Lot Essay
The background of this picture was initially executed in situ, probably in 1893, with the elephants and foreground figures added later, after 1895. In 1895, the initial version of this painting appears to have been exhibited in The Empire of India Exhibition, Earl's Court, London, 1895 as No. 46 Corner of a House at Jodhpur with projecting windows of carved stone, and the entire house-front is covered with faded frescoes. The elephant in the present painting relates directly to one Weeks executed for another work, Les Elephants du Rajah de Jodhpore. In both cases, the elephant's rainments are based upon those of an elephant that 'modeled' for Weeks in Udaipur in 1893, described in Weeks's book From the Black Sea Through Persia and India, New York, 1896, p. 296.
Executing a picture in two stages was not particularly unusual for Weeks. His great talent lay in his ability seamlessly to integrate in situ site studies with figural elements derived from other studies and sketches. This particular painting is an excellent example of this aspect of Weeks's working method, and it is no surprise that it aroused keen competitive interest in the artist's estate sale of 1905, fetching a greater price than several considerably larger works.
Weeks was the most famous American Orientalist painter in the Paris expatriate community of academic artists of the late 19th Century. He travelled to Morocco, the Middle East and Persia and intrepidly ventured into India on three lengthy expeditions. On these trips, he frequently completed (or began) paintings in situ, despite the rigours of travel and climate. Having first shown at the Paris Salon in 1878, Weeks ultimately attained, in 1896, the highest distinction in the academic painter's world, the Salon's award of Chevalier de la Lègion d'Honneur, and his work was exhibited and won awards across Europe and America from 1876 to 1904. Weeks also achieved distinction as a travel writer; American magazines carried Weeks's vivid narratives of his exotic travels, illustrated with his own sketches, rendered in oils en grisaille. Many of these narratives were compiled in book form in From the Black Sea through Persia and India (New York 1895). At the height of his fame in 1903, Weeks died suddenly and mysteriously at home in Paris, at the age of fifty-four. Two years later, his widow arranged a sale in New York of Weeks's remaining oeuvre, from small sketches to monumental canvases, in a three-day auction so remarkable that it received front-page coverage in New York. We are grateful to Dr. Ellen K. Morriss for researching and preparing the above catalogue entry. The picture will be included in her forthcoming catalogue raisonné on the artist's work.
Executing a picture in two stages was not particularly unusual for Weeks. His great talent lay in his ability seamlessly to integrate in situ site studies with figural elements derived from other studies and sketches. This particular painting is an excellent example of this aspect of Weeks's working method, and it is no surprise that it aroused keen competitive interest in the artist's estate sale of 1905, fetching a greater price than several considerably larger works.
Weeks was the most famous American Orientalist painter in the Paris expatriate community of academic artists of the late 19th Century. He travelled to Morocco, the Middle East and Persia and intrepidly ventured into India on three lengthy expeditions. On these trips, he frequently completed (or began) paintings in situ, despite the rigours of travel and climate. Having first shown at the Paris Salon in 1878, Weeks ultimately attained, in 1896, the highest distinction in the academic painter's world, the Salon's award of Chevalier de la Lègion d'Honneur, and his work was exhibited and won awards across Europe and America from 1876 to 1904. Weeks also achieved distinction as a travel writer; American magazines carried Weeks's vivid narratives of his exotic travels, illustrated with his own sketches, rendered in oils en grisaille. Many of these narratives were compiled in book form in From the Black Sea through Persia and India (New York 1895). At the height of his fame in 1903, Weeks died suddenly and mysteriously at home in Paris, at the age of fifty-four. Two years later, his widow arranged a sale in New York of Weeks's remaining oeuvre, from small sketches to monumental canvases, in a three-day auction so remarkable that it received front-page coverage in New York. We are grateful to Dr. Ellen K. Morriss for researching and preparing the above catalogue entry. The picture will be included in her forthcoming catalogue raisonné on the artist's work.