Dog Walker

Description

Made for a set that would have been sold to a British East India Company affiliate, this painting by an Indian artist depicts an Indian servant attempting to comply with the British convention of walking dogs on a leash. He seems resigned to accommodating British wishes, but without a natural understanding of how to do so properly. Similarly, the artist creates a cursory landscape setting and awkward shadows under the figures to accord with the preferences of British collectors for spatial depth and realism, but these were not elements of traditional Indian painting, and they appear as half-hearted and unsuccessful as the dog walk.

Provenance

William E. Ward [1922–2004], Solon, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art (?–1992); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1992–)

Dog Walker

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early 1830s

Accession Number

1992.143

Medium

gum tempera and ink on paper

Dimensions

Overall: 22.2 x 15.9 cm (8 3/4 x 6 1/4 in.)

Classification

Painting

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

Seventy-fifth anniversary gift of William E. Ward in memory of his wife, Evelyn Svec Ward