Brush with exotica

19th-century American artist Edwin Lord Weeks’ canvases portray in detail the vibrancy of India in the time of the Raj

Sometime in the 1880s, an American painter called Edwin Lord Weeks turned his attention to India. He was in search of exotic, oriental scenes which he wanted to recreate with his paintbrush. Until then, India had not been truly explored by Western orientalists.

The country’s vast canvas of cultures, costumes and traditions caught the fancy of Weeks who made three long trips to India. The outcome was about 90 elaborate paintings of several prominent Indian cities like Delhi, Benares, Agra, Mathura and Amritsar. None of these works was, however, exhibited in India. Until now. About 40 of Weeks' works are currently on display at American Center in New Delhi.

 

Weeks was clearly inspired by the elaborate architecture of the time — the imposing Mughal structures, traditional Indian temples, the intricate jharokas of Jodhpur and the Golden Temple at Amritsar. It’s with the precision of an architect that he recreates them in his paintings. Like the 1889 painting “Hour of Prayer at the Pearl Mosque” (Agra) which painstakingly depicts the white marble structure with devotees either praying or resting on its milky steps.

The ordinary men and women of India play a critical role in his art. There are busy scenes of everyday life: “An Open Air Restaurant” in Lahore, “The Silk Merchants” of Ahmedabad and “A Horse Trade At The Blue Tiled Mosque” in Delhi. A narrative runs through each painting.

Weeks visited India when there were several rulers, big and small. But these kings and princes never quite form the central theme of any of his works. Even in paintings that depict regal scenes, like “The Great Mughal Returning from Jama Masjid” (Delhi, 1886), done almost three decades after the last Mughal king of Delhi had been exiled, the focus remains on the common man. The face of the ‘Great Mughal,’ seated on an elephant, cannot be seen. Only his persona can be sensed from the reactions of his subjects who are bowing, seeking alms or standing far away with their bullock carts.

For Gautam Srivastav, the founder of The Hubris Foundation which has brought Weeks to India, the exhibition is the culmination of a personal quest. “I first stumbled upon Weeks’ work on India at Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) in 1992,” he says. That triggered a search which led Srivastav to museums and private collectors across the US — Brooklyn Museum of Art (NY), Joslyn Art Museum (Nebraska), Portland Museum of Art (Maine) and others. With their help, he managed to put the collection together and bring it to India.

(The exhibition is on at the American Center till February 4)