Upper Stories of Akber's Tomb, Secundra

1866

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Dominant colour

Upper Stories of Akber's Tomb, Secundra 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 tomb with arched windows and a pointed dome, rising against a bright sky. Rousselet drew this in India, but he wasn’t happy with his sketches. So he taught himself photography right there, using early cameras that needed long exposures. The lines in this drawing feel almost like a photo—sharp and still. If you like quiet, precise buildings, look up chiaroscuro. It’s the way light and shadow play together to make things look three-dimensional.

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.