Temples and Bathing Ghat at Benares
Edwin Lord Weeks
Brooklyn Museum photograph
Object Label
Weeks probably painted this seemingly spontaneous sketch of the banks of the Ganges River in the sacred city of Benares during his first extended visit to India, in 1882–83. It most likely served as one of many preparatory studies for his large and important painting The Last Journey, Souvenir of the Ganges, Benares, exhibited to acclaim at the Paris Salon of 1885. Although the broad brushwork of this study is characteristic of his sketches executed on the spot, its size suggests that it may have been painted in his temporary studio in Benares, perhaps with the aid of some of the photographs that he also employed to document his firsthand observations.
Caption
Edwin Lord Weeks (American, 1849–1903). Temples and Bathing Ghat at Benares, ca. 1883–1885. Oil on canvas, 19 15/16 x 29 15/16 in. (50.6 x 76 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Walter Prosser, 77.150.1. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Artist
Title
Temples and Bathing Ghat at Benares
Date
ca. 1883–1885
Medium
Oil on canvas
Classification
Dimensions
19 15/16 x 29 15/16 in. (50.6 x 76 cm)
Signatures
Signed lower left: "E. L. Weeks / Benares"
Credit Line
Gift of Walter Prosser
Accession Number
77.150.1
Frequent Art Questions
Tell me more.
This painting by Edwin Lord Weeks shows a scene he observed while in India, people sitting and washing clothes by the Ganges River.I recommend comparing this work to the large "Moorish Warrior" nearby. Both paintings capitalize on exoticized views of the Middle East and Asia, but while Weeks actually traveled extensively, Merritt Chase painted the Moorish warrior in a studio, and fabricated the scene.
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