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Lot Essay
Edwin Lord Weeks was one of the most well-known American Orientalist artists of the 19th century, and without a doubt the most well-travelled painter in this category. A true painter-explorer, Weeks was primarily a documentary artist, striving for a realist rendition of his subject matter. His pictures sought to highlight the beauty of local customs, color, architecture and climate without resorting to the more dramatized and constructed narratives of other painters in the genre. India held a tremendous fascination for Weeks, and the artist ultimately made three journeys to the subcontinent – in 1882, 1886 and 1892 respectively. His paintings of Indian life brought him renown and wealth in both France and America, featuring prominently in major exhibitions like the Paris Salons.
Within his extensive oeuvre of Indian scenes, Weeks’ pictures of Ahmedabad stand out as some of his most celebrated works. It was with A Street in Ahmedabad that Weeks launched the public debut of his Indian works at the Pennsylvania Academy exhibition in 1883, exhibited alongside other major canvases like The Maharajah’s Boat on the Ganges. In his 1895 travelogue, From the Black Sea Through Persia and India, Weeks describes this city in Gujarat that so captured his attention. “One is usually more or less prepared for what awaits him at Delhi and Agra, but when we were advised to stop on the way north and see Ahmedabad for the first time, we did not expect to have the satisfaction of discovering for ourselves, as it were, a new type of city” (E.L. Weeks, From the Black Sea Through Persia and India, New York, 1895, p. 329).
In the present lot, Weeks combines his memories from various visits to Ahmedabad over the course of a decade. The artist was enamored by the city’s old havelis or traditional homes and “the marvels of wood-carving with which its streets are lined,” and even wrote to a friend that he brought samples of this craft home from his first trip, seemingly out of fascination as much as for artistic reference. (Ibid, New York, 1895, p. 329). Describing the intricate architectural features that embellished the city’s buildings, Weeks wrote that “The leading features may be again noted as being the deeply recessed lower story forming a veranda, and the wooden pillars with elaborately wrought consols supporting the upper stories or balconies; the whole facade is often covered with a wealth of carving, painted with tints which are rather gaudy when new, but which are exquisitely beautiful when half effaced and weather-worn. The heads of elephants and spirited horses, figures of dancing girls, nymphs, and the gods of the Hindoo pantheon are mingled with floral scroll-work, or more conventional arabesques. The doors of these houses, although massive and heavy, both in appearance and in actual weight, are often exceedingly interesting and of great artistic beauty” (Ibid., New York, 1895, p. 330).
In the present lot we can see – rendered in exquisite detail – the kind of beautiful teak woodworking that Weeks traveled over four thousand miles to see, and which he labeled a “new phase of Indian art” after several months of visiting Mughal monuments (Ibid, New York, 1895, p. 329). This scene is rendered as Weeks would have seen it, and was either completed in his Paris studio based on sketches done while in Ahmedabad, or painted partially in situ to be finished in his studio. The bright pigments applied to the teak façade have been faithfully recorded in the semi-weathered state Weeks saw them, along with the figures throughout. Weeks’ expert attention to detail and rich textures is evident, particularly in the balcony and the women’s clothing, and his careful rendering of light allows viewers to imagine the bright sun overhead which imparts an impressive depth to the scene. Old House in Ahmedabad is one of the artist’s most charming pictures, and an exceptional example of the Indian street scenes that brought Weeks wide acclaim.
This painting featured prominently in the 1905 estate auction of the artist’s work at the American Art Galleries, selling on the last day of three, which was reserved for his best oil paintings. The auction catalogue described this painting noting, “This quaint old house is of richly carved and painted woodwork, with a wide balcony supported by heavily carved brackets. At the doorway sit two men on a native bed, while in the foreground a group of women and children shows one brown-skinned mother with her child astride on her shoulder. Another child near by is crying because a hungry dog stole his piece of bread” (The Works of the Late Edwin Lord Weeks, The American Art Galleries, New York, 1905, no. 194).
Within his extensive oeuvre of Indian scenes, Weeks’ pictures of Ahmedabad stand out as some of his most celebrated works. It was with A Street in Ahmedabad that Weeks launched the public debut of his Indian works at the Pennsylvania Academy exhibition in 1883, exhibited alongside other major canvases like The Maharajah’s Boat on the Ganges. In his 1895 travelogue, From the Black Sea Through Persia and India, Weeks describes this city in Gujarat that so captured his attention. “One is usually more or less prepared for what awaits him at Delhi and Agra, but when we were advised to stop on the way north and see Ahmedabad for the first time, we did not expect to have the satisfaction of discovering for ourselves, as it were, a new type of city” (E.L. Weeks, From the Black Sea Through Persia and India, New York, 1895, p. 329).
In the present lot, Weeks combines his memories from various visits to Ahmedabad over the course of a decade. The artist was enamored by the city’s old havelis or traditional homes and “the marvels of wood-carving with which its streets are lined,” and even wrote to a friend that he brought samples of this craft home from his first trip, seemingly out of fascination as much as for artistic reference. (Ibid, New York, 1895, p. 329). Describing the intricate architectural features that embellished the city’s buildings, Weeks wrote that “The leading features may be again noted as being the deeply recessed lower story forming a veranda, and the wooden pillars with elaborately wrought consols supporting the upper stories or balconies; the whole facade is often covered with a wealth of carving, painted with tints which are rather gaudy when new, but which are exquisitely beautiful when half effaced and weather-worn. The heads of elephants and spirited horses, figures of dancing girls, nymphs, and the gods of the Hindoo pantheon are mingled with floral scroll-work, or more conventional arabesques. The doors of these houses, although massive and heavy, both in appearance and in actual weight, are often exceedingly interesting and of great artistic beauty” (Ibid., New York, 1895, p. 330).
In the present lot we can see – rendered in exquisite detail – the kind of beautiful teak woodworking that Weeks traveled over four thousand miles to see, and which he labeled a “new phase of Indian art” after several months of visiting Mughal monuments (Ibid, New York, 1895, p. 329). This scene is rendered as Weeks would have seen it, and was either completed in his Paris studio based on sketches done while in Ahmedabad, or painted partially in situ to be finished in his studio. The bright pigments applied to the teak façade have been faithfully recorded in the semi-weathered state Weeks saw them, along with the figures throughout. Weeks’ expert attention to detail and rich textures is evident, particularly in the balcony and the women’s clothing, and his careful rendering of light allows viewers to imagine the bright sun overhead which imparts an impressive depth to the scene. Old House in Ahmedabad is one of the artist’s most charming pictures, and an exceptional example of the Indian street scenes that brought Weeks wide acclaim.
This painting featured prominently in the 1905 estate auction of the artist’s work at the American Art Galleries, selling on the last day of three, which was reserved for his best oil paintings. The auction catalogue described this painting noting, “This quaint old house is of richly carved and painted woodwork, with a wide balcony supported by heavily carved brackets. At the doorway sit two men on a native bed, while in the foreground a group of women and children shows one brown-skinned mother with her child astride on her shoulder. Another child near by is crying because a hungry dog stole his piece of bread” (The Works of the Late Edwin Lord Weeks, The American Art Galleries, New York, 1905, no. 194).