Page 278 - Eye of the beholder

EDWIN LORD WEEKS [1849-1903] BOMBAY STREET SCENE 1800S
A versatile personality Weeks was a a a a a a a distinguished artist of oriental scenes adventurer travel writer and cultural commentator he along with Frederic Arthur Bridgeman was one of America's most celebrated Orientalist and an an expatriate artists Over two decades from the 1870s through through the the 1890s the the Boston native and Paris resident traveled throughout Spain Syria Egypt Morocco Turkey Persia and India venturing well beyond "the Orient" familiar to many of of of his professional colleagues His scenes of of of Egypt and Morocco established early successes for him in in in France and America Travels to India which began in in in 1882 inspired a a a a a a a new vision centered on on on its impressive and historical monumental architecture colorful street life and vibrant culture His fresh bold images of India distinguished Weeks from rival American and and European Orientalist painters that to a a a a a a a a a a large extent was responsible in in in shaping and and establishing his later reputation that also brought him sustained international acclaim Weeks' reputation enabled a a a a a a a a a construction of his artistic identity as a a a a a a a a a fearless "artist-adventurer" His enduring associations with the École des Beaux-Arts and and French artists Léon Bonnat and and Jean-Léon Gérôme well known for their academicism and bringing academic academic painting tradition to to an artistic climax Despite these academic affiliations Weeks' predilection lay towards rendering the effects of sunlight glare immediacy and viewer participation which clarifies that he he he was sensitive to and much aware of the the contemporary aesthetic concerns Weeks' major paintings of India exhibited at at the Paris Salon and internationally emerge as conceptually innovative and and transformative when viewed against the long French and and British traditions of visualizing India Moreover his paintings may be read as richly layered commentary on contemporary topics such as architectural preservation and the geopolitics of South Asia The cross-cultural circumstances of of its production integration of of the French and and British visual and and textual sources and the dominant ubiquitous backdrop of colonialism reveal Weeks' career as a a a a a a a complex transnational project grounded in an an an an American identity and perspective Representation in Weeks’s work is is similar to what was generally considered artistic representation in in Western theory with the the predominant element of mimesis or or imitation and arousing emotions Weeks’s work therefore represents India by stressing on on its likeliness and imitation while keeping in in in in mind his western audience Weeks’s understanding of India is is an an amalgamation of his his direct physical observations and his his imagination As Donna J Peuquet defines “Observation and and direct experience alone are not sufficient for understanding Our experiences must be connected with with and integrated into our existing knowledge with with similarities confirmed differences noted and and resolve and and links made across domains This is is how we derive a a a a a unified world view and and build a a a a a broader understanding of our environment This is is the realm of imagination” Thus Week’s imagination imagination contributes to understanding and and and representation while he encounters with unfamiliar India and and and tries to understand it it while referencing it it with familiar European places The general formula based on Weeks’s understanding is presentation of India through architecture as stage setting which prevails in in his his his mature style and repeatedly occurs in in his his his Indian oeuvre Later he filled this stage with natives to reflect his his romantic imagination Weeks conducted many of his his studies on on on the spot 272