Edwin Lord Weeks (1849 – November 1903) was an American painter, noted for his Orientalist works.

Life

Weeks was born in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, in 1849. His parents were spice and tea merchants from Newton, and as such they were able to finance their son's youthful interest in painting and travelling. As a young man Weeks visited the

Florida Keys The Florida Keys are a coral island, coral cay archipelago off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami a ...

to draw, and also travelled to Surinam in South America. His earliest known paintings date from 1867 when he was eighteen years old, although it is not until his ''Landscape with Blue Heron'', dated 1871 and painted in the

Everglades The Everglades is a natural region of flooded grasslands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orlando with the K ...

, that Weeks started to exhibit a dexterity of technique and eye for composition—presumably having taken professional tuition. In 1872, Weeks relocated to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, becoming a pupil of

Léon Bonnat Léon Joseph Florentin Bonnat (; 20 June 1833 – 8 September 1922) was a French painter, Grand Officer of the Légion d'honneur, art collector and professor at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. Early life Bonnat was born in Bayonne, but from 1846 to 1853 ...

and

Jean-Léon Gérôme Jean-Léon Gérôme (; 11 May 1824 – 10 January 1904) was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as Academic painting, academicism. His paintings were so widely reproduced that he was "arguably the world's most famous living art ...

. After his studies in Paris, Weeks emerged as one of

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

's major painters of Orientalist subjects. Throughout his adult life he was an inveterate traveler and journeyed to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

(1869),

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

(1870),

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

(frequently between 1872 and 1878), and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

(1882–83). In 1895, Weeks wrote and illustrated a book of travels, ''From the Black Sea through Persia and India'', and in 1897 he published ''Episodes of Mountaineering'' (which was preceded by the 1894 article ''Some Episodes of Mountaineering, by a Casual Amateur''). Weeks died in Paris in November 1903. He was a member of the , France, an officer of the Order of Saint Michael (Bavaria), and a member of the

Munich Secession The Munich Secession (German language, German Münchener Secession) was an association of visual artists who broke away from the mainstream Munich Artists' Association in 1892, to promote and defend their art in the face of what they considered ...

Achievements

Weeks exhibited his work in nearly every annual Salon (Paris). He earned a Medal of Honor in 1884, then a Third Class Medal in 1889, followed by a gold medal at the 1889 International Exhibition, and finally the Legion of Honor in 1896.

Gallery

File:Leaving For The Hunt At Gwalior ca 1887.jpg, A Maratha, leaving for hunting from Gwalior Fort File:The Maharahaj of Gwalior Before His Palace ca 1887.jpg, Maratha king of Gwalior at his palace File:An Indian Hunting Party.jpg, A Maratha hunting party File:Edwin Lord Weeks Promenade on an Indian Street.jpg, Promenade on a Maratha street File:The Barge Of The Maharaja Of Benares ca 1883.jpg, Barge of the Maharaja Of Benares, 1883 File:On The River Benares ca 1883.jpg, On The River Benares, 1883 File:Edwin_Lord_Weeks_-_Along_the_Ghats,_Mathura.jpg, Along the Ghats of

Mathura Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the states and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located south-east of Delhi; and about from the town of Vrindavan. In ancient ti ...

, 1883 File:The Rajah, At The Palace Of Amber ca 1888.jpg, The Maharajah at the Amer Fort, 1888 File:Great Mogul And His Court Returning From The Great Mosque At Delhi India - Oil Painting by American Artist Edwin Lord Weeks.jpg, The Great Mughal And His Court Returning From The Great Mosque At Delhi India File:Weeks Edwin Lord An Open-Air Restaurant Lahore.jpg, An Open-Air Restaurant near

Wazir Khan Mosque The Wazir Khan Mosque (, ''Wazīr Khã Masīt''; Persian language, Persian, ) is a 17th-century Mughal Empire, Mughal masjid located in the city of Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan. The mosque was commissioned by the then governor ...

, Lahore File:Weeks Edwin Lord Royal Elephant.jpg, Royal Elephant at the Gateway to the Jama Masjid, Mathura File:Weeks Edwin Entering The Mosque 1885.jpg, Entering the Mosque, 1885 File:Edwin Lord Weeks - Interior of a Mosque at Cordova - Walters 37169.jpg, ''Interior of a Mosque at Cordova'' (circa 1880), The Walters Art Museum File:Edwin Lord Weeks - The Taj Mahal - Walters 37316.jpg, ''The Taj Mahal'', 1883, The Walters Art Museum File:Weeks Edwin Lord Arrival of a Caravan Outside The City of Morocco.jpg, Arrival of a Caravan Outside the City of Morocco

References

Sources

* Edwin Lord Weeks
"Hindoo and Moslem"
''Harper's New Monthly Magazine'', Vol. 91, No. 545, October 1895, pp. 651–669.

External links