Edwin Lord Weeks

Collection of Mrs. Lucie Cable Castleman, St. Louis (by 1896)
Thence by descent

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This work has been recently restored. The stretcher is original. The canvas has been lined. Almost all of the retouches are focused on the right edge, where some old losses have occurred. These include areas of the latticed windows, the seated figure with the tambourine and the marble floor in the lower right corner. Elsewhere, despite the original paint reading very strongly under ultraviolet light, there are hardly any other retouches. The condition is lovely.
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Edwin Lord Weeks was one of the most important American orientalist painters of the late nineteenth century and, unlike many of his peers, his work reflects his travels to the regions he depicted. In 1892, Weeks traveled overland from Turkey to India by way of Persia, and published a travel account in serial format for Harper’s Bazaar magazine, titled From the Black Sea through Persia and India, which earned him fame and widespread artistic recognition in Europe and America.

In the present work, Weeks invites the viewer to join the audience of a Nautch dancer as she performs on an urban street, a scene that he likely witnessed during his travels in northern India. Weeks was primarily interested in depicting everyday scenes from the places he traveled, and the present work demonstrates his keen eye for detail in addition to his enthusiasm for the culture in which he immersed himself. Just as his dancing girl entrances the audience around her, Weeks is aware that a compelling narrative had the power to attract viewers (see lot 57). As Gerald M. Ackerman writes: “His ability to draw ethnic types without condescension or caricature, his skill in putting together grand compositions, his ability to tell convincing tales – all these skills make his paintings compelling. His wonderful eye for architecture, not just for its stylistic niceties, but also for its presence in sunlight, transmits a view of the past that has to be accepted as true.” (Ackerman, American Orientalists, Paris, 1994, p. 244).

Please note this lot will be sold unframed.