Landscape, Arthur William Devis, Oil on Canvas, 147x120.5 cms.

This painting represents a scenic landscape extending into distant background with swirling clouds. Streaks of sunlight fall effectively on the clouds which seem to be radiant in their appearance. Craggy mountains in deep umber brown are painted across the horizontal frame of this composition. Two individuals, dressed in western clothes can be seen in the foreground. The entire canvas is divided by a serene sea occupying the central ground in conventional academic style. Vegetal motifs and a tree are painted on one side of this expansive painting, directing the viewer’s eye to the detailed landscape in the background. Arthur William Devis was born in 1762 in London as the nineteenth child of the artist Arthur Devis and his wife Elizabeth Faulkner. He was renowned for his skill as a British painter of history paintings and portraits. Appointed as draughtsman by the East India Company in 1783, under Captain Henry Wilson, he made Bengal his workplace in India. He painted portraits and historical subjects, sixty-five of which he exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts, London during 1779- 1821.

Portfolio Name: Select Paintings of Rashtrapati Bhavan
Source: Lalit Kala Akademi