View on the Ganges

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, Whitehall

This picture may represent the property of an English landowner by the side of the river Ganges, on which paddle steamers can be seen in the distance. It previously bore the title ‘View of Malabar Point, Bombay’ and was attributed to the British artist William Havell (1782-1857), who worked in India during the 1820s. The buildings were thought to represent the Governor’s residence at Malabar Point but do not match descriptions of the residence.

The painting is probably the work of a British artist, who was in India during the 1830s, a date suggested by the presence of paddle steamers. This would make it too late to have been painted by Havell, who left India, after a stay of stay of some six years, in 1826.

Places

India, River Ganges

Subjects

topography, landscape C19th, genre, British School C19th, cactus, tree, palm, goat, flock (birds), river, Indian, man, woman, fence, path, house, ship

Materials & Techniques

canvas, oil, oil painting

Artist

British 19th century unknown

Title

View on the Ganges

Date

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

height: 32.00 cm, width: 41.00 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from Gooden & Fox, December 1953

Provenance

With Gooden & Fox, London; from whom purchased by the Ministry of Works in December 1953, as W. Havell ‘View on Ganges‘

GAC number

2512