Student Artwork Guide — The Arab Gunsmith

Name Class Date

Edwin Lord Weeks, The Arab Gunsmith. 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 topimpressionists.com/en/artists/edwin-lord-weeks/
Artist’s dates: 1849 – 1903
Movement: Academicism Highly polished, carefully finished realism taught by the official art schools of the 1800s.

Copyright This work is in the public domain. Edwin Lord Weeks died in 1903; copyright lasts 70 years after the artist’s death, so it ended in 1973.

The Arab Gunsmith — Edwin Lord Weeks

When might this have been painted?

1840
1850
1860
1870
1880
1890
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

An Indian Hunting Party, 1899 topimpressionists.com/en/art/edwin-lord-weeks-an-indian-hunting-party-8BWPEH-en/
Elephants and Figures in a Courtyard, Fort Agra, 1890 topimpressionists.com/en/art/edwin-lord-weeks-elephants-and-figures-in-a-courtyard-fort-agra-8BWPEX-en/
Rahaj Starting on a Hunt topimpressionists.com/en/art/edwin-lord-weeks-rahaj-starting-on-a-hunt-8YDQKH-en/

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: topimpressionists.com/en/art/similar/edwin-lord-weeks-the-arab-gunsmith-8BWPG7-en/

Colours

Measured from the image

Main colour

Driftwood #ae8d57

Catalogued palette

#AE8D57
#DCCBAC
#1B0C0C
#644B31

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: Driftwood
Intensity: Balanced How saturated and varied the colours are, from a single toned-down hue to many bright ones.
Contrast: Statement How much the colours differ in lightness and saturation across the picture.
Harmony: Strong Color Unity How well the colours work together, from clashing to fully unified.
Brightness: Shadow How light or dark the picture reads overall, from deep shadow to bright highlight.
Saturation: Subtle Color 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 China 76.1%3,500 visits
2 Singapore 10.9%500 visits
3 United States of America 8.7%400 visits
4 Hong Kong 2.2%100 visits
5 Türkiye 2.2%100 visits

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 Street Scene in India 7.8%400 visits
2 An Indian Hunting Party, 1899 5.9%300 visits
3 Elephants and Figures in a Courtyard, Fort Agra, 1890 3.9%200 visits
4 the golden temple amritsar, 1890 3.9%200 visits
5 Leaving for the Hunt at Gwalior, 1887 3.9%200 visits
6 Gate of the Fortress at Agra, India 3.9%200 visits
7 Arrival Of Prince Humbert, The Rajah, At The Palace Of Amber 3.9%200 visits
8 The Caravan, 1877 3.9%200 visits
9 rajah starting on a hat 3.9%200 visits
10 The Arrival Of A Caravan Outside Marakesh, The Mountains Of Atlas In The Distance 3.9%200 visits
11 the temple and tank of walkeshwar at bombay 3.9%200 visits
12 Moorish Guard 3.9%200 visits
13 Old Blue-Tiled Mosque, Outside of Delhi, India, 1883 2.0%100 visits
14 Interior of the Mosque at Cordova, 1880 2.0%100 visits
15 A Street Market Scene, India 2.0%100 visits
16 The Hour of Prayer at Moti Mushid (The Pearl Mosque), Agra, 1888 2.0%100 visits
17 Two Arabs Reading 2.0%100 visits
18 Man Leading a Camel 2.0%100 visits
19 Traveling in Persia, 1895 2.0%100 visits
— The Arab Gunsmith this painting 0.0%0 visits

Together these works take 66.7% of all the attention this artist's paintings received over the last twelve months. The catalogue holds 119 works by this artist, of which 36 were looked at at least once. This painting has not been looked at yet in that time — it closes the list without a rank. 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

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

The artist Edwin Lord Weeks topimpressionists.com/en/artists/edwin-lord-weeks/
Similar works More works to compare topimpressionists.com/en/art/similar/edwin-lord-weeks-the-arab-gunsmith-8BWPG7-en/

Find this online

QR code linking to the download page for The Arab Gunsmith

topimpressionists.com/en/art/download/edwin-lord-weeks-the-arab-gunsmith-8BWPG7-en/

Cite this artwork

MLA: Weeks, Edwin Lord. The Arab Gunsmith. n.d., https://topimpressionists.com/en/art/edwin-lord-weeks-the-arab-gunsmith-8BWPG7-en/
APA: Weeks, Edwin Lord (n.d.). The Arab Gunsmith [Painting]. https://topimpressionists.com/en/art/edwin-lord-weeks-the-arab-gunsmith-8BWPG7-en/
Chicago: Edwin Lord Weeks. The Arab Gunsmith. n.d. https://topimpressionists.com/en/art/edwin-lord-weeks-the-arab-gunsmith-8BWPG7-en/
Harvard: Weeks, Edwin Lord (n.d.) The Arab Gunsmith. Available at: https://topimpressionists.com/en/art/edwin-lord-weeks-the-arab-gunsmith-8BWPG7-en/

The Arab Gunsmith — Edwin Lord Weeks

Look closely

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

What catches your eye first, and why?
Which colours or shapes create the mood — and what is that mood?
Our catalogue files this work under: scenes. Do you agree? What would you add, or take away?
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.
Academicism: Highly polished, carefully finished realism taught by the official art schools of the 1800s. Where can you see that in this work?

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 do I preview a reproduction of "The Arab Gunsmith" by Edwin Lord Weeks?

To preview a reproduction of "The Arab Gunsmith" by Edwin Lord Weeks, open the artwork's Preview page.

Is "The Arab Gunsmith" by Edwin Lord Weeks a light or a dark artwork?

"The Arab Gunsmith" by Edwin Lord Weeks is recorded as shadow, with a soft shadow luminance.

What art movement does "The Arab Gunsmith" by Edwin Lord Weeks belong to?

"The Arab Gunsmith" is a work of Academicism. The movement indicates the artistic tradition the work is part of.