{"product_id":"anon-buckingham-palace-from-the-india-office-upper-window-sunset-london-original-late-19th-century-watercolour-painting-kd-799","title":"Anon., Buckingham Palace from the India Office Upper Window, Sunset, London – Late 19th-century watercolour painting","description":"\u003cp\u003eAn original late 19th-century watercolour painting – Buckingham Palace from the India Office Upper Window, Sunset, London.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis beautiful, ethereal watercolour—relatively large in scale—shows a view looking west at sunset from an upper window at the India Office (now the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) on King Charles Street in Westminster.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe shimmering skyline hints at some of London's iconic buildings, most notably Buckingham Palace, but the expansive view captures the abundance of green in the heart of London: St James's Park, the oldest of the Royal Parks, which was redesigned by John Nash in 1827, reducing its formality by converting the canal into a serpentine lake with islands and rerouting formal avenues to romantic winding pathways.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe painting's composition is anchored by the central sun and its spreading rays, bathing the city in soft evening light. The 19th-century artist filters the view through a Romantic gaze—the awe-inspiring sunset elevating the subject from topographical record to spiritual encounter.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe artist is anonymous but was evidently someone with access to the India Office building, which at that time was not open to the public. As a government office tasked with overseeing the administration of crown rule in India, it employed Secretaries of State for India, members of the Council of India, and a wider administrative team.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn watercolour with gum arabic to intensify the colour. One of a pair of London views that we have for sale (see KD-800).\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Somerset \u0026 Wood","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54748954624329,"sku":"KD-799","price":590.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0930\/4306\/5161\/files\/KD-799.jpg?v=1782830115","url":"https:\/\/somersetandwood.com\/fr-eu\/products\/anon-buckingham-palace-from-the-india-office-upper-window-sunset-london-original-late-19th-century-watercolour-painting-kd-799","provider":"Somerset \u0026 Wood Fine Art","version":"1.0","type":"link"}