Prayers at Sunset

“Prayers at Sunset, Udaipur, India”, 1919, by Charles W. Bartlett depicts the Maghrib prayer in Udaipur in India. The Maghrib prayer or the ‘”West [sun] prayer”, is prayed just after sunset and is the fourth of five formal daily prayers performed by practising Muslims. This scene beautifully portrays Udaipur also known as the “City of Lakes,” or the “Venice of the East,” which is a major city of the Udaipur district in the Indian state of Rajasthan.

This woodblock print was published in Japan by Watanabe Shōzaburō in 1919. Bartlett was one of the very first Western artists to have his work publish in the Japanese woodblock print form which led to the rejuvenation of this genre and the Shin-hanga movement in western art circles.

The piece is signed in block to the lower left and by hand to the lower left, matted, pressed under glass and presented in a frame with a gold filet.