Edwin Lord Weeks (American, 1849-1903)
The Golden Temple, Amritsar
oil on canvas, signed and inscribed Golden Temple Amritsar lower left
51.5 x 76.5 cm.
Footnotes:
Weeks visited the Golden Temple at Amritsar on at least one of his expeditions to India, the best documented of which was in 1893. Of the island temple and its surrounds, Weeks wrote:

From the border of the tank, which lies in the afternoon shadow, the Golden Temple gives one the impression of a glittering jewel, or of some rare old Byzantine casket wrought in enamel and studded with gems. Small and compact, glowing with colour and scintillating with light, its mirrored image reaching far down into the purple depths of reflected sky, it has at first sight a glamour of unreality, like an opium vision of De Quincey, or the 'pleasure dome of Kubla Khan'. Two colours predominate, the gold of the upper part and the clustered domes, and the white marble of its base, toned and softened by the faint colour of its inlaid flowers; the curtained doors and windows add flashes of scarlet [...] and the great baskets of the flower-sellers heaped high with roses and other flowers, among which great masses of odorous yellow jasmine predominate, add a note of yellow and orange, recalling the colour of the temple.
(E. L. Weeks, From the Black Sea Through Persia and India (1896), pp. 186-188).

Weeks was sufficiently impressed by the Golden Temple that he returned to the subject on several occasions and executed works in a number of formats, from simple grisaille illustrations to one of his most monumental paintings (measuring 213.4 by 302.3 cm.), taken from the same perspective as the present work. It is unclear if the present painting predates or postdates that monumental version, but it seems clear they are generally contemporary.

With its foreground diagonal composition, its deft handling of shadow and light – particularly the harsh, unforgiving sun of India - and its distinct combination of precise draughtsmanship and loose, painterly style, the present painting is entirely characteristic of Weeks' work. It is a beautiful and important work from the artist's last period of Indian paintings.

The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Edward S. Levin, and a letter of authenticity will accompany the lot. The work is also to be included in the artist's catalogue raisonné.

We are grateful to Edward S. Levin for his assistance in compiling this catalogue entry.