Rediscovery of India: Collectors reclaim colonial art as nation's heritage

Weeks isn't the only foreign artist who travelled to and worked in or on India. And he certainly isn't the only one attracting attention in the country of his interest

In the 1880s, an American painter named Edwin Lord Weeks landed on Indian shores after having travelled to South America, Egypt, Persia and Morocco, profusely painting scenes of everyday life in those countries. In India, he went about painting the ghats of Mathura and Benaras, reproducing on canvas royal processions out on a hunt, framing for posterity the maharajas and their entourages at forts, or turning his attention to temples and mosques.

 

Earlier this year, in September, one of Weeks’ 1884 paintings, titled Hindu Temple, Bombay, sold for Rs 24 crore at a Saffronart auction in New Delhi. This set