Paper

Student Artwork Guide

Before A Mosque

Name Class Date

Edwin Lord Weeks, Before A Mosque. Public domain. See this canvas under a moving light: the drawing, the true colour under the varnish, the bare pigment

The facts

Artist
Edwin Lord Weeks artsdot.com/en/artists/edwin-lord-weeks/
Artist’s dates
1849 – 1903
Movement
Orientalist

In context

Before A Mosque — Edwin Lord Weeks

When might this have been painted?

  1. 1840
  2. 1850
  3. 1860
  4. 1870
  5. 1880
  6. 1890
  7. 1900

Row above: the years. Row below: how old the artist was at the start and at the end of each span — 0 at birth, 54 at death.

Shaded: the lifetime of Edwin Lord Weeks (1849–1903) every dated painting, decade by decade

First works: up to 1880 Main working years: 1880–1888 Late works: from 1888

Those three bands split the works this catalogue has a date for into a first quarter, a middle half and a last quarter. They are not the artist’s complete output: a thin stretch may be a gap in the record rather than a quiet spell. The same years with the artist’s life laid along them

This record has no exact year on file — using the artist's lifetime and the work's style, what decade would you guess?

Compare with

Pick one work above: name two things it shares with this one, and one thing that's different.

More works to set beside this one: artsdot.com/en/art/similar/edwin-lord-weeks-before-a-mosque-8BWPEP-en/

Colours

Measured from the image

    Main colour

    Cobalt Violet #8c95b9

    Catalogued palette

    • #8C95B9
    • #CAAA86
    • #4A1E1E
    • #966446

    These colours inside the artist’s whole palette Find other paintings by colour

    Palette
    Earthy The dominant colour family in the image.
    Main colour name
    Cobalt Violet
    Intensity
    Balanced How saturated and varied the colours are, from a single toned-down hue to many bright ones.
    Contrast
    Bold How much the colours differ in lightness and saturation across the picture.
    Harmony
    Balanced Harmony How well the colours work together, from clashing to fully unified.
    Brightness
    Bright How light or dark the picture reads overall, from deep shadow to bright highlight.
    Saturation
    Balanced Soft How pure and strong the colours are, from near-grey to fully vivid.

    Where in the world is this painting looked at?

    • under 1%
    • 1–3%
    • 3–8%
    • 8–20%
    • 20% and over
    This painting alone has too few recorded visitors to map, so the plate reads every work by Edwin Lord Weeks over the last twelve months — 5 countries in all. Where these figures come from

    The ten leading countries

    1. 1 China 76.1%
    2. 2 Singapore 10.9%
    3. 3 United States of America 8.7%
    4. 4 Hong Kong 2.2%
    5. 5 Türkiye 2.2%

    Find the three darkest countries on the map. Is the museum that keeps this painting in any of them? Write down one reason people far away might look at it.

    The 20 most looked-at works by Edwin Lord Weeks

    1. 1 An Indian Hunting Party, 1899 6.4%
    2. 2 Street Scene in India 6.4%
    3. 3 Elephants and Figures in a Courtyard, Fort Agra, 1890 4.3%
    4. 4 the golden temple amritsar, 1890 4.3%
    5. 5 Gate of the Fortress at Agra, India 4.3%
    6. 6 Arrival Of Prince Humbert, The Rajah, At The Palace Of Amber 4.3%
    7. 7 The Caravan, 1877 4.3%
    8. 8 rajah starting on a hat 4.3%
    9. 9 The Arrival Of A Caravan Outside Marakesh, The Mountains Of Atlas In The Distance 4.3%
    10. 10 the temple and tank of walkeshwar at bombay 4.3%
    11. 11 Moorish Guard 4.3%
    12. 12 Old Blue-Tiled Mosque, Outside of Delhi, India, 1883 2.1%
    13. 13 Interior of the Mosque at Cordova, 1880 2.1%
    14. 14 A Street Market Scene, India 2.1%
    15. 15 Two Arabs Reading 2.1%
    16. 16 Man Leading a Camel 2.1%
    17. 17 Traveling in Persia, 1895 2.1%
    18. 18 Sketch - Two Nautch Girls 2.1%
    19. 19 Palace and Lake at Sarket-Ahmedabad, India, 1882 2.1%
    20. 20 Before A Mosque this painting 2.1%

    Together these works take 70.4% of all the attention this artist's paintings received over the last twelve months. The catalogue holds 119 works by this artist, of which 34 were looked at at least once. This painting ranks 20 of them, with 2.1% of that attention. The same counts, month by month

    Bars measure attention, not quality. Pick the work at the top and this one: name one thing that might make a painting famous beyond how well it is painted.

    Artist and museum

    Artist

    Edwin Lord Weeks

    Born in Boston, United States of America

    a life of artistic exploration

    edwin lord weeks, an american artist, left an indelible mark on the art world with his captivating works. born in 1849 in boston, massachusetts, weeks' life was a testament to his family's affluence, which enabled him to pursue his passion for painting and traveling.

    early years and artistic development

    as a young man, weeks visited the florida keys to draw, further solidifying his artistic foundation. his earliest known paintings date from 1867, when he was eighteen years old. notably, it wasn't until his landscape with blue heron, dated 1871 and painted in the everglades, that weeks began to exhibit a dexterity of technique and eye for composition.

    parisian sojourn and orientalist subjects

    in 1872, weeks relocated to paris, becoming a pupil of léon bonnat and jean-léon gérôme. this marked the beginning of his emergence as one of america's major painters of orientalist subjects. throughout his adult life, he was an inveterate traveler, journeying to south america (1869), egypt and persia (1870), morocco (frequently between 1872 and 1878), and india (1882–83).

    notable works and publications

    some of weeks' most notable works include:

    a maratha, leaving for hunting from gwalior fort

    maratha king of gwalior at his palace

    an open-air restaurant near wazir khan mosque, lahore

    royal elephant at the gateway to the jama masjid, mathura

    in 1895, weeks wrote and illustrated a book of travels, from the black sea through persia and india, followed by episodes of mountaineering in 1897.

    awards and legacy

    weeks earned numerous accolades, including a medal of honor in 1884, a third class medal in 1889, a gold medal at the 1889 international exhibition, and the legion of honor in 1896. he was also a member of the légion d'honneur, france, an officer of the order of saint michael (bavaria), and a member of the munich secession. view edwin lord weeks' artworks on AllPaintingsStore: [https://AllPaintingsStore.com/@/edwinlordweeks](https://AllPaintingsStore.com/@/edwinlordweeks) explore more about orientalist subjects on AllPaintingsStore: /en/art/list/

    Where to read more

    Find this online

    QR code linking to the download page for Before A Mosque

    artsdot.com/en/art/download/edwin-lord-weeks-before-a-mosque-8BWPEP-en/

    Cite this artwork

    MLA
    Weeks, Edwin Lord. Before A Mosque. n.d., https://artsdot.com/en/art/edwin-lord-weeks-before-a-mosque-8BWPEP-en/
    APA
    Weeks, Edwin Lord (n.d.). Before A Mosque [Painting]. https://artsdot.com/en/art/edwin-lord-weeks-before-a-mosque-8BWPEP-en/
    Chicago
    Edwin Lord Weeks. Before A Mosque. n.d. https://artsdot.com/en/art/edwin-lord-weeks-before-a-mosque-8BWPEP-en/
    Harvard
    Weeks, Edwin Lord (n.d.) Before A Mosque. Available at: https://artsdot.com/en/art/edwin-lord-weeks-before-a-mosque-8BWPEP-en/

    Look closely

    Before A Mosque — Edwin Lord Weeks

    Look closely

    Answer in your own words. There are no wrong answers here — only answers you can explain.

    1. What catches your eye first, and why?
    2. Which colours or shapes create the mood — and what is that mood?
    3. Our catalogue files this work under: mughal architecture, indian scene, elephant. Do you agree? What would you add, or take away?
    4. Look back at An Indian Hunting Party (1899), earlier in this guide. Name two things it shares with this work, and one that is different.
    5. Themes that come back through the work of Edwin Lord Weeks: orientalist exoticism, mughal inspiration, imperial power". Which of them do you see here?

    Your response

    Write a short paragraph about this artwork. Use the facts from the earlier parts of this guide, and your answers above.

    Questions & Answers

    How does "Before A Mosque" fit into Edwin Lord Weeks's themes and style?

    "Before A Mosque" shares with Edwin Lord Weeks's other works its Orientalist style and the recorded themes: orientalist exoticism, mughal inspiration, imperial power", travel & discovery, east meets west, courtly spectacle, detailed observation, week's signature style.

    Is "Before A Mosque" more bright or more dark overall?

    The recorded values for "Before A Mosque" by Edwin Lord Weeks are: bright brightness, gentle luminance luminance.

    Is Edwin Lord Weeks, creator of "Before A Mosque", known under other names?

    Edwin Lord Weeks is also known as Lord Weeks.