The Kootub Minar, Delhi

1866

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Dominant colour

The Kootub Minar, Delhi is a 1866 by Louis-Théophile Marie Rousselet, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Louis-Théophile Marie Rousselet
When & what style?: 1866 · Impressionism
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

You see a tall, red sandstone tower rising against a pale sky, its balconies casting sharp shadows. Rousselet drew this in India, but he was French—so the tower looks a bit like a European fantasy of the East. He worried his sketches weren’t grand enough, so he learned photography there. That’s why the lines feel so precise, almost like a photo. For more of this kind of travel art, look up Louis-Théophile Marie Rousselet (French, 1845–1929).

The story of this work

Overview

Concerned that his drawings did not do justice to the splendor of India’s monuments, Rousselet learned photography in India that year, a remarkable accomplishment. He proved to be a talented photographer with a sophisticated sense of composition. The scenes in this volume sweep across sites of Sultanate, Rajput, and Mughal power in northern India, from the sacred Hindu city of Varanasi on the Ganges River to Alwar in Rajasthan. Also included are several scenes of industry and portraits of Indian rulers.