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Lot Essay
Executed in 1883 during Edwin Lord Weeks' first trip to India, this lofty, magnificent painting is amongst his finest Indian works. The primary elements are simple, yet extremely dramatic: a great elephant, and the monumental stairway and gate of the Jami Masjid, or Great Mosque, of Mathura, known in Weeks' time as 'Muttra'. The six-point start stamp indicates that the painting was executed in India in situ, though it is likely that figures were added later at his studio in Paris, an unconventional fact considering the large size of the canvas. As a life-study of the Jami Masjid, it may be presumed that it was used as a source for the painting of similar subject matter Weeks executed around 1895, A Royal Elephant at the Gateway to the Jami Masjid, Mathura (Fig. 1).
In the present work, Weeks strips back the sumptuous elements added to the later composition to depict a scene of the everyday. He seems to have taken a step back in time, to reveal an image of the elephant before the ceremony, and in space, to widen his view of the scene. The elephant wears only its brilliant red robes and has not yet been painted or clad with its gilt howdah. Instead, its mahout has stopped to converse with a rider on a horse and with a passer-by. The relaxed atmosphere of the scene is further enhanced by the group of men sitting on the ground, immersed in conversation and seemingly unaware of the elephant. To the left, two women on their way to the mosque have stopped in front of a niche on the wall, where the two men sit shielded from the sun by straw awnings. The quotidian scene unrolls against the grand staircase, decagonal minaret and elaborate, tile-encrusted, red sandstone facade of the Jami Masjid, which appears in its entirety, with its faded, flaking surface and weathered stone.
The juxtaposition of noble life, represented by the Great Mosque, with the quotidian presence of the men and undressed elephant is the oxymoron, typical of Indian life, which Weeks found visually irresistible. This painting is altogether a triumph of naturalistic detail and colour, with the entire scene set in the brilliant light of the bright Indian sun. The whole picture is steeped in exotic imagery, the result of Weeks' journeys to lands beyond those experienced by his artistic peers. This is a classical Weeks painting of the highest quality, precisely the sort of work which established his great contemporary reputation.
The authenticity of this painting has previously been confirmed by Dr Ellen K. Morris, and it will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné currently being prepared by Dr Morris.
In the present work, Weeks strips back the sumptuous elements added to the later composition to depict a scene of the everyday. He seems to have taken a step back in time, to reveal an image of the elephant before the ceremony, and in space, to widen his view of the scene. The elephant wears only its brilliant red robes and has not yet been painted or clad with its gilt howdah. Instead, its mahout has stopped to converse with a rider on a horse and with a passer-by. The relaxed atmosphere of the scene is further enhanced by the group of men sitting on the ground, immersed in conversation and seemingly unaware of the elephant. To the left, two women on their way to the mosque have stopped in front of a niche on the wall, where the two men sit shielded from the sun by straw awnings. The quotidian scene unrolls against the grand staircase, decagonal minaret and elaborate, tile-encrusted, red sandstone facade of the Jami Masjid, which appears in its entirety, with its faded, flaking surface and weathered stone.
The juxtaposition of noble life, represented by the Great Mosque, with the quotidian presence of the men and undressed elephant is the oxymoron, typical of Indian life, which Weeks found visually irresistible. This painting is altogether a triumph of naturalistic detail and colour, with the entire scene set in the brilliant light of the bright Indian sun. The whole picture is steeped in exotic imagery, the result of Weeks' journeys to lands beyond those experienced by his artistic peers. This is a classical Weeks painting of the highest quality, precisely the sort of work which established his great contemporary reputation.
The authenticity of this painting has previously been confirmed by Dr Ellen K. Morris, and it will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné currently being prepared by Dr Morris.