Can't find the painting that you are looking for? No problem! We can paint any painting in any size, even if it's not listed on our website. Simply make a request and we will get back to you with a quote within a few hours.
Optional - receive your painting ready to hang. Note we are only able to ship framed paintings up to a certain size. Once the maximum size is reached, the framing option is automatically disabled. If ordered without a frame the painting will arrive rolled inside a protective tube with an extra 1.5" white canvas on all sides so you can easily frame it in any local frame shop.
A prominent name among the American Orientalists, Edwin Lord Weeks, like most artists considered to be part of that artistic movement, spent most of his adult life either traveling or studying under masters like Jean-Léon Gérôme and Léon Bonnat. In those travels, Weeks would accrue knowledge, references, and a veritable library of photographs and sketches to draw from when creating his paintings. Based on those resources, the artist would then return to one of his many studios, where he would produce amazingly detailed and studied paintings that would portray, often in the same space, every aspect of the East that the artist found exotic and exciting enough to be brought back to American and European audiences.
In this oil on canvas painting, produced circa 1883, during Weeks’ first stay in India and now in possession of private collectors, the artist portrayed a complex and busy scene on the quay of one of the most important rivers in India. Although rarely mentioned by name in the titles of Weeks’ painting, the Ganga or Ganges River not only provides water to one of the most populous regions of India but is also of extreme spiritual importance for many religions. The scene occurs in the city of Benares, now known as Varanasi, where Weeks kept a temporary studio during his trip to India, although there is no evidence that this particular painting was produced in that studio as it might also have been created based on sketches and photographs taken during the trip, especially considering its complexity.
Among the paintings produced by Weeks, there is a tendency of those painted with more detail and complexity to have been painted in the studio, while the quicker, rougher paintings were usually painted in loco. The attention to detail here, is, then, very telling. It could even be said that Weeks put together a composition made to showcase the people and customs he saw around him. For that, Weeks mixes people from all walks of life, from wealthy merchants dressed in luxurious red to destitute ascetics wearing but a white dhoti, all of them resting under large parasols.
It is like Weeks wanted to, in a single scene, portray the whole Indian culture as he perceived it, taking the care of leaving out any Western influence. In that way, this painting is almost a disorganized scheme of Indian society as experienced by the artist.
Real Oil Paints, Real Brushes, Real Artists, Real Art. The Certificate of Authenticity which arrives with every painting provides an assurance and verifies the authenticity of the hand painted fine art reproduction you purchased. Each oil painting is created by hand using only the finest canvas and oil paints available.
Important Notes About Your Painting:
If you have any request to alter your reproduction of On The River Benares,
you must email us after placing your order and we'll have an artist contact you.
If you have another image of On The River Benares
that you would like the artist to work from, please include it as an attachment. Otherwise, we will reproduce the above image for you exactly as it is.
Free shipping is included in the price of the painting. Once the painting is ready and dry enough to ship, we will roll it and ship it in a sturdy cardboard tube.
We always ship express via courier to ensure your order reaches you as soon as possible - normally within three business days. The total delivery time from the moment you place your order until the package is delivered to your door is normally between three to four weeks.
If, in the unlikely event you were dissatisfied with the painting after reviewing it in person, it can be returned for a full refund for up to 365 days after delivery.
When you receive the painting; you are free to return it for more revisions or else for a full refund minus our actual shipping cost -- which is, on average, $25 per painting.
1st Art Gallery provides a full warranty covering manufacturing and material defects for paintings purchased from our website. The warranty covers damage for normal use. Damage caused by incidents such as accidents or inappropriate use are not covered.
Depending on the degree of damage to the warranted painting, it will either be repaired or replaced. This warranty service is provided free of charge.
When purchasing a painting on its own, it will arrive rolled inside a secure tube with an extra 1.5" of white canvas on all sides so you can easily frame it in any local frame shop.
You may choose to purchase your painting framed, in which case, it will arrive "ready to hang". We offer more than 20 beautiful models, all hand finished and expertly assembled by our experienced framers.
Note that for safety reasons we can only frame up to a certain size. Once the maximum size is reached the framing option is automatically disabled.
If you are planning to frame your painting yourself,
use an existing frame, or frame it locally, you may choose to order your painting with a stretching service,
meaning that it will arrive mounted on wooden bars.
If you're considering not framing your painting at all, you may opt for a Gallery Wrap. The term Gallery Wrap refers to the way the canvas is stretched, which is by wrapping it around thick stretcher bars, about 1.5 inch thick, with the canvas being secured to the back rather than the sides of those bars.
All orders ship with UPS, FedEx or DHL and will arrive directly to your home or office. A tracking number will be emailed to you as soon as the order leaves our studio so you can track it online. All orders ship express and usually arrive within 4-5 days from the shipping date. Due to shipping restraints, many of our framed, stretched, and oversize paintings may take 6-21 days for arrival depending on the safest route determined by the postal service.