Lot 8: VASILY VASILIEVICH VERESCHAGIN

VASILY VASILIEVICH VERESCHAGIN 1842-1904 THE CHIEF MOSQUE IN FUTTEHPORE SIKRI inscribed with the artist's name, titled etyud iz puteshestviya v Indiyu and dated 1880 on the reverse oil on canvas image size: 37 by 45cm, 14 1/2 by 17 3/4 in.

Vereschagin visited the magnificent palace-city complex of Futtehpore Sikri built by the Mughal Emperor Akbar (1556-1605) in 1875. After his conquest of Gujarat in June 1573, Akbar founded this city as his capital and named it Fateh Pur, Victory Town', but shortage of water compelled him to abandon it only fifteen year later and relocate to Lahore. A majestic half-ruined city, an 'Indian Versailles' as the writer Louis Rousselet described it, is one of the finest examples of Mughal architecture and remains 'a scene of imposing grandeur; and the hand of time has fallen so lightly upon it that one might take it for a town very recently deserted by its inhabitants, or one of the enchanted cities of Sinbad the Sailor' (E.Singleton, Romantic Castles and Palaces, As Seen and Described by Famous Writers, New York, 1901).

The present work depicts the interior of the city's chief mosque, a second version of which was exhibited in Vereschagin's 1888 New York exhibition with the following annotation by the artist: 'Stands on the western side of an immense courtyard, surrounded by beautiful galleries, with many other mosques and enormous gates. Built after the pattern of the mosque in Mekka, erected over the grave of Mahomet, entrance to which is strictly forbidden to unbelievers' (no. 54, titled Chief Mosque in Futtehpore Sikri fig.3). The building marks a transitional phase in Islamic art blending indigenous architectural elements with Persian motifs, the central mihrabs decorated with geometric patterns, mosaics of stones, glazed tiles, and white marble inlaid into the locally quarried red sandstone. The golden inscriptions are carved onto a royal blue background and stylised watercolour floral designs ornament the stone walls.

As Edmund Smith's photograph from the period bears out (fig 1) , Vereschagin's level of accuracy in recording these details is extraordinary, and in technical terms this work is one of his finest. As Lebedev notes in his monograph on the artist, Vereschagin's brushwork improved remarkably during this trip. 'The texture of the paint surface in his Indian series is not indifferent to the subject... but works actively to create the image. The brushwork varies endlessly depending on the content: either enameled in the depiction of the smooth water of a mountain lake or articulating the ornament in the architectural relief' (A.Lebedev, Vasily Vasilevich Vereschagin, Moscow, 1872, p.156).

In the minutely depicted ornament and the smooth reflective floor of the present lot, we see Vereschagin's sophisticated experimentation with multiple textures. But his attention to detail did not eclipse his sensitivity to the spiritual dimension of his settings: 'I like the Moslem mosques; the prayer is simple and not less solemn than that of the Christian's; but the Deity is not represented there in any painted or sculptural form. You may feel God is present at your prayer, but where is He? - it is left for your soul to discover it.' (annotation to no.61 The Private Mosque of the Great Moghuls in the Palace of Delhi, 1888 New York exhibition catalogue) .

The Jami Masjid was a mosque 'so large, that you would say it is part of the mountain and the like of which can scarce be seen in the habitable world' (Abd al Qadir Badauni, Muntakhab at-Tavarikh, 1568). Prince Jahangir called it 'one of the greatest monuments of my father's reign', and it remained the largest mosque in India until 1800. Situated on the highest point of the city, this elegant building was dedicated to Sheikh Salim Chishti, who had rightly predicted the birth of the son of the childless emperor and whose nearby tomb Vereschagin also painted (fig.2).