Orientalism 1830-1900
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Orientalism Islam Russia 1700-1900 Ancient French painting Louis XVIII to 2nd Empire
Chronology : 1830-1839 1850-1859 1879
See also : Orientalism Islam Russia 1700-1900 Ancient French painting Louis XVIII to 2nd Empire
Chronology : 1830-1839 1850-1859 1879
1834 Choc de Cavaliers Arabes by Delacroix
1998 SOLD for FF 51M (later equivalent to € 7.7M) by Piasa
Eugène Delacroix was nourishing his romantic ardor with an imaginary Levant. In 1832 his trip to Morocco, Andalusia and Algeria reveals to him the real life and the shimmering colors of the orientalism. He brings back seven sketchbooks and 800 sheets that would inspire him for many years.
In 1834 the oil on canvas Femmes d'Alger dans leur Appartement is the masterpiece of this new exoticism. It recreates the living room of a harem by featuring women from Paris dressed in Algiers fashion. The painting which indirectly addresses the taboo theme of prostitution is accepted at the Salon and immediately purchased by the Louvre. Picasso will compare this mixture of genres to his own Demoiselles d'Avignon.
In the same year, Choc de Cavaliers Arabes is a memory of a military celebration. The artist shows the moment of heightened energy when two riders stop their galloping horses after having fired the rifle shot required by the fantasia. The theme did not appeal to the Parisian jury : this piece was rejected by the Salon. Influenced directly by Géricault and Gros, Delacroix excelled in the representation of horses.
This oil on canvas 80 x 100 cm was sold by Piasa on June 19, 1998 for FF 51M, later equivalent to € 7.7M, from a lower estimate of FF 8M.
The rejection by the Salon did not discourage the artist : two autograph drawings were made in 1834 in reverse composition to prepare the lithographic edition. One of them, 18 x 25 cm, was sold for € 39K by Artcurial on June 16, 2020.
In 1834 the oil on canvas Femmes d'Alger dans leur Appartement is the masterpiece of this new exoticism. It recreates the living room of a harem by featuring women from Paris dressed in Algiers fashion. The painting which indirectly addresses the taboo theme of prostitution is accepted at the Salon and immediately purchased by the Louvre. Picasso will compare this mixture of genres to his own Demoiselles d'Avignon.
In the same year, Choc de Cavaliers Arabes is a memory of a military celebration. The artist shows the moment of heightened energy when two riders stop their galloping horses after having fired the rifle shot required by the fantasia. The theme did not appeal to the Parisian jury : this piece was rejected by the Salon. Influenced directly by Géricault and Gros, Delacroix excelled in the representation of horses.
This oil on canvas 80 x 100 cm was sold by Piasa on June 19, 1998 for FF 51M, later equivalent to € 7.7M, from a lower estimate of FF 8M.
The rejection by the Salon did not discourage the artist : two autograph drawings were made in 1834 in reverse composition to prepare the lithographic edition. One of them, 18 x 25 cm, was sold for € 39K by Artcurial on June 16, 2020.
1855 La Chasse au Taureau Sauvage by Raden Saleh
2018 SOLD for € 9M by Ruellan
Nephew of a local prefect on the island of Java which was then part of the Dutch East Indies, Raden Saleh had early skills for the graphic arts. He left in 1829 to study art in Holland. His first Western paintings are portraits. After meeting a lion tamer, he executes hunting scenes whose exoticism is well suited to the curiosity of the period.
The action of a great violence involves ferocious beasts, together or confronted with hunters on horseback. His bestiary is too varied to be relying from personal Javanese memories : lions, tigers, deer, buffalo, boar.
The composition seems directly inspired by the hunting scenes painted by Rubens around 1620, with a swirling and vividly colored center in which the protagonists are intertwined up to the limit of readability. Men and animals express exacerbated feelings of panic and horror.
When he is in France, Raden Saleh is in touch with Horace Vernet but his more flexible lines are inspired by the Dutch landscape learned from Schelfhout. The similarity of his ardor with Delacroix's romantic orientalism is obvious, but the hunts by Raden Saleh were conceived long before the 1854 commission to Delacroix by the Beaux-Arts for a lion hunt.
Raden Saleh returned to Java in 1852, bringing with him the notoriety he acquired in Europe. Like Rubens, he is using very large formats. Like what tradition said of Rubens, he also likes to include his self-portrait in full activity among the hunters.
An oil on canvas 110 x 180 cm dated 1855 titled La Chasse au taureau sauvage Banteng (Banteng wild bull hunting) has just surfaced in Brittany, in a basement where the owners had hidden it for several decades because they were uncomfortable with its violence. Minor misses are reported. It was sold for € 9M from a lower estimate of € 150K by Ruellan on January 27, 2018, lot 1. Please watch the video shared by Interencheres.
The action of a great violence involves ferocious beasts, together or confronted with hunters on horseback. His bestiary is too varied to be relying from personal Javanese memories : lions, tigers, deer, buffalo, boar.
The composition seems directly inspired by the hunting scenes painted by Rubens around 1620, with a swirling and vividly colored center in which the protagonists are intertwined up to the limit of readability. Men and animals express exacerbated feelings of panic and horror.
When he is in France, Raden Saleh is in touch with Horace Vernet but his more flexible lines are inspired by the Dutch landscape learned from Schelfhout. The similarity of his ardor with Delacroix's romantic orientalism is obvious, but the hunts by Raden Saleh were conceived long before the 1854 commission to Delacroix by the Beaux-Arts for a lion hunt.
Raden Saleh returned to Java in 1852, bringing with him the notoriety he acquired in Europe. Like Rubens, he is using very large formats. Like what tradition said of Rubens, he also likes to include his self-portrait in full activity among the hunters.
An oil on canvas 110 x 180 cm dated 1855 titled La Chasse au taureau sauvage Banteng (Banteng wild bull hunting) has just surfaced in Brittany, in a basement where the owners had hidden it for several decades because they were uncomfortable with its violence. Minor misses are reported. It was sold for € 9M from a lower estimate of € 150K by Ruellan on January 27, 2018, lot 1. Please watch the video shared by Interencheres.
Retrouvez nous le 27 janvier 2018 pour la vente à Vannes de « La Chasse au taureau sauvage » de Raden Saleh datée et signée de 1855. #artist #Inde #chasse #Tigre #Taureau #auction #SaveTheDate https://t.co/4OqgLXxsMi pic.twitter.com/Eabe5zvVRO
— RUELLAN (@jpruellan) December 13, 2017
masterpiece
1862 Le Bain Turc by Ingres
Louvre
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
ca 1879 Pearl Mosque at Agra by Vereshchagin
2014 SOLD for £ 3.7M by Christie's
Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin was the most famous Russian painter of his time. His work was exhibited in London, St. Petersburg, and throughout Europe. He was best known for his military scenes, but his humanistic rendering of the brutality of war displeased the Russian authority and hampered his official career.
He was also a tireless traveler. He died of his dual passion for war and travel during the siege of Port Arthur.
He had been in 1864 a pupil of Gérôme in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, and his travel paintings belong to the Orientalist trend with an attention to detail, light and color. His themes are educative in a desire of provoking thought. He managed to open his solo exhibitions to broad audiences.
The stay of Vereshchagin in India lasted two years, from 1874 to 1876, sketching in oil the monuments, passages and streams. The English suspected him of being a spy in a reconnaissance for a Russian military invasion.
On June 6, 2011, Sotheby's sold for £ 2.3M an oil on canvas 47 x 61 cm showing the Taj Mahal at sunset, lot 6.
Inspired by the same trip but completed in 1879 after a break for his volunteering in the Russo-Turkish war, a view painted in Paris displays the front side of the Pearl Mosque at Delhi, sunny and animated by a few worshippers. As commented by the artist, the dazzling white of the marble walls and floors are evoking a presence of God without displaying a figure of the Deity. The artist was skilled to paint a monumental piece in a single shade.
This monumental oil on canvas 3.95 x 5 m was brought in New York for exhibition by Vereshchagin in 1888 and auctioned in 1891. It was sold for $ 3.1M by Sotheby's on November 1, 2011, lot 12, after de-accession from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
he view of the Pearl Mosque at Agra was painted by Vereshchagin after he came back to his studio in Paris, providing a terminus post quem in 1876, more probably after his return from the Russian-Turkish war in 1879.
The white interior of the mosque is viewed in soft light. Two rows of standing worshipers and a single character behind them bow their head, possibly mediating about the former wealth of the Mughal rulers who had built the Taj Mahal in the vicinity.
This oil on canvas 150 x 200 cm was sold for £ 3.7M from a lower estimate of £ 1M by Christie's on June 2, 2014, lot 30. It was one of the major works brought by Vereshchagin to New York in 1888.
Once again un-welcomed in his home country after the accession of Tsar Alexander III in 1881, Vereshchagin left for a journey in Palestine in 1883 where he visited the remains of the Biblical monuments.
His rationalism in the depiction of the life of Jesus led his set of paintings into oblivion after a controversial touring exhibition. Financial difficulties followed, leading the artist to export 110 artworks to New York in 1888 for a two month exhibition followed by a tour of the USA and the 1891 auction of the collection.
A view of Solomon's Wall in Jerusalem with its signature wailing believers depicts the popular fervor, in opposition with the more sacred pictures of the same location by Gérôme or Bauernfeind.
This oil on canvas 200 x 152 cm painted by Vereshchagin in Paris in 1884-1885 was brought by him to New York. It was sold for $ 3.6M by Christie's on April 18, 2007, lot 76.
He was also a tireless traveler. He died of his dual passion for war and travel during the siege of Port Arthur.
He had been in 1864 a pupil of Gérôme in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, and his travel paintings belong to the Orientalist trend with an attention to detail, light and color. His themes are educative in a desire of provoking thought. He managed to open his solo exhibitions to broad audiences.
The stay of Vereshchagin in India lasted two years, from 1874 to 1876, sketching in oil the monuments, passages and streams. The English suspected him of being a spy in a reconnaissance for a Russian military invasion.
On June 6, 2011, Sotheby's sold for £ 2.3M an oil on canvas 47 x 61 cm showing the Taj Mahal at sunset, lot 6.
Inspired by the same trip but completed in 1879 after a break for his volunteering in the Russo-Turkish war, a view painted in Paris displays the front side of the Pearl Mosque at Delhi, sunny and animated by a few worshippers. As commented by the artist, the dazzling white of the marble walls and floors are evoking a presence of God without displaying a figure of the Deity. The artist was skilled to paint a monumental piece in a single shade.
This monumental oil on canvas 3.95 x 5 m was brought in New York for exhibition by Vereshchagin in 1888 and auctioned in 1891. It was sold for $ 3.1M by Sotheby's on November 1, 2011, lot 12, after de-accession from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
he view of the Pearl Mosque at Agra was painted by Vereshchagin after he came back to his studio in Paris, providing a terminus post quem in 1876, more probably after his return from the Russian-Turkish war in 1879.
The white interior of the mosque is viewed in soft light. Two rows of standing worshipers and a single character behind them bow their head, possibly mediating about the former wealth of the Mughal rulers who had built the Taj Mahal in the vicinity.
This oil on canvas 150 x 200 cm was sold for £ 3.7M from a lower estimate of £ 1M by Christie's on June 2, 2014, lot 30. It was one of the major works brought by Vereshchagin to New York in 1888.
Once again un-welcomed in his home country after the accession of Tsar Alexander III in 1881, Vereshchagin left for a journey in Palestine in 1883 where he visited the remains of the Biblical monuments.
His rationalism in the depiction of the life of Jesus led his set of paintings into oblivion after a controversial touring exhibition. Financial difficulties followed, leading the artist to export 110 artworks to New York in 1888 for a two month exhibition followed by a tour of the USA and the 1891 auction of the collection.
A view of Solomon's Wall in Jerusalem with its signature wailing believers depicts the popular fervor, in opposition with the more sacred pictures of the same location by Gérôme or Bauernfeind.
This oil on canvas 200 x 152 cm painted by Vereshchagin in Paris in 1884-1885 was brought by him to New York. It was sold for $ 3.6M by Christie's on April 18, 2007, lot 76.
HAMDY (Hamdi) BEY
Intro
Osman Hamdi Bey was the son of Ibrahim Edhem Pasha who had a remarkable career in Constantinople. Edhem Pasha was a Greek-born who became a slave at the age of 3 after the massacres of Chios. This brilliant intellectual became a mining engineer in Paris and then rose in the Ottoman hierarchy up to the position of grand vizier reached in 1877.
Hamdi Bey came to Paris in 1860 and remained there for nine years. He studied with Gérôme and Boulanger in that city at the time when Orientalist painting enjoyed a great success. Deputy Director of the Ottoman protocol in 1871, he was to remain loyal to this dynasty threatened by decline.
Influenced by European culture, Hamdi Bey became director of the Imperial Museum in 1881 and founded in 1882 the Academy of Fine Arts that would enable young artists to develop their skills without an exile in Europe. He early had a remarkable pioneering achievement in the protection of the archaeological heritage of the Middle East.
He nevertheless does not abandon painting in these years of intense official activity. His scenes of mosques are typical for the time but his portraits of courtiers are in the following of the Qajar art of Persia to which he brings an increased emotion.
Hamdi Bey came to Paris in 1860 and remained there for nine years. He studied with Gérôme and Boulanger in that city at the time when Orientalist painting enjoyed a great success. Deputy Director of the Ottoman protocol in 1871, he was to remain loyal to this dynasty threatened by decline.
Influenced by European culture, Hamdi Bey became director of the Imperial Museum in 1881 and founded in 1882 the Academy of Fine Arts that would enable young artists to develop their skills without an exile in Europe. He early had a remarkable pioneering achievement in the protection of the archaeological heritage of the Middle East.
He nevertheless does not abandon painting in these years of intense official activity. His scenes of mosques are typical for the time but his portraits of courtiers are in the following of the Qajar art of Persia to which he brings an increased emotion.
1
1880 Young Woman Reading
2019 SOLD for £ 6.7M by Bonhams
The career of Osman Hamdy Bey as a painter is inseparable from the Tanzimat, the vast reorganization movement of the Ottoman Empire started in the 1830s by Sultan Mahmud II. His father is a vizier who will reach in 1877 the top responsibility in the Ottoman government.
Osman came to Paris in 1860 at the age of 17 to complete his law studies. When he returned to Constantinople in 1869 with a French fiancée, he was an Orientalist artist, former student of the late Boulanger and friend of Gérôme.
He learned from his French masters the techniques of realistic figuration that are based on photographs. He will remain throughout his life a great servant of the Ottoman Empire. He disdains the scenes of artificial harems and keenly observes the religious practices and the luxurious costumes of the Turkish elites.
The reading of sacred books is one of Hamdy Bey's favorite themes. His characters are made appealing by their passions or their carelessness. This deep humanism that leads the social criticism up to a pleasant mockery has no equivalent in European orientalist art, even less in Ottoman art.
Painted in 1878 with the atmosphere from Topkapi, the picture of a young prince sprawled on a couch for better focusing on his reading passed at Sotheby's on April 24, 2012. A young woman fooling her boredom by looking at a big book, oil on canvas 41 x 51 cm painted in 1880, was sold for £ 6.7M by Bonhams on September 26, 2019 from a lower estimate of £ 600K, lot 62. Please watch the video prepared by the auction house.
Osman came to Paris in 1860 at the age of 17 to complete his law studies. When he returned to Constantinople in 1869 with a French fiancée, he was an Orientalist artist, former student of the late Boulanger and friend of Gérôme.
He learned from his French masters the techniques of realistic figuration that are based on photographs. He will remain throughout his life a great servant of the Ottoman Empire. He disdains the scenes of artificial harems and keenly observes the religious practices and the luxurious costumes of the Turkish elites.
The reading of sacred books is one of Hamdy Bey's favorite themes. His characters are made appealing by their passions or their carelessness. This deep humanism that leads the social criticism up to a pleasant mockery has no equivalent in European orientalist art, even less in Ottoman art.
Painted in 1878 with the atmosphere from Topkapi, the picture of a young prince sprawled on a couch for better focusing on his reading passed at Sotheby's on April 24, 2012. A young woman fooling her boredom by looking at a big book, oil on canvas 41 x 51 cm painted in 1880, was sold for £ 6.7M by Bonhams on September 26, 2019 from a lower estimate of £ 600K, lot 62. Please watch the video prepared by the auction house.
2
1881 Lady of Constantinople
2008 SOLD for £ 3.4M by Sotheby's
Osman Hamdy Bey introduces progressive elements in his art, with a great subtlety that does not impeach his splendid cultural and administrative career. He stages himself with his family, probably to avoid remonstrances from other models. He is the only figurative painter in Turkey and his works have not been exhibited during his lifetime in his country.
The artist had been in Paris from 1860 to 1869. His father wanted him to study law. He prefers to immerse himself in the Orientalist painting by Gérôme and Boulanger and in the new clothing styles of the Second Empire.
Returning to Constantinople, he is interested in traditional costumes for which he considers a possible compatibility with the modern world. On the occasion of the World's Fair in Vienna in 1873, he prepares the texts for an important edition of photographs of popular Turkish costumes.
Hamdy Bey manages in parallel the activities of an orientalist painter in the European style and of a cultural administrator for the Ottoman Empire. His career will be extremely brilliant. He will be an indefatigable promoter and educator of both archeology and modern art.
On May 30, 2008, Sotheby's sold for £ 3.4M the life-size portrait of a young lady from Constantinople, oil on canvas 185 x 109 cm painted in 1881. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The scene is staged in an interior of rich oriental fabrics and rugs. The full length standing woman is pretty and elegant with a beautiful outdoor coat. Slightly leaning, she is thoughtful and attentive. Although she clearly belongs to the upper classes, she is not identified.
Identical in almost every detail, a smaller version 120 x 60 cm dated of the same year has just surfaced. It was sold for € 1.77M by Dorotheum on October 23, 2019, lot 526. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
There is a significant difference between the two paintings. She wears an oriental veil also known as yasmak of such transparency that it hides nothing of her pretty face, contrary to the traditions. The veil goes up to the eyebrows in the life-size version but remains under the eyes in the other painting. These are fashion pictures. The woman is a supermodel of modernity in Constantinople at the time of the last Sultans.
The artist had been in Paris from 1860 to 1869. His father wanted him to study law. He prefers to immerse himself in the Orientalist painting by Gérôme and Boulanger and in the new clothing styles of the Second Empire.
Returning to Constantinople, he is interested in traditional costumes for which he considers a possible compatibility with the modern world. On the occasion of the World's Fair in Vienna in 1873, he prepares the texts for an important edition of photographs of popular Turkish costumes.
Hamdy Bey manages in parallel the activities of an orientalist painter in the European style and of a cultural administrator for the Ottoman Empire. His career will be extremely brilliant. He will be an indefatigable promoter and educator of both archeology and modern art.
On May 30, 2008, Sotheby's sold for £ 3.4M the life-size portrait of a young lady from Constantinople, oil on canvas 185 x 109 cm painted in 1881. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The scene is staged in an interior of rich oriental fabrics and rugs. The full length standing woman is pretty and elegant with a beautiful outdoor coat. Slightly leaning, she is thoughtful and attentive. Although she clearly belongs to the upper classes, she is not identified.
Identical in almost every detail, a smaller version 120 x 60 cm dated of the same year has just surfaced. It was sold for € 1.77M by Dorotheum on October 23, 2019, lot 526. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
There is a significant difference between the two paintings. She wears an oriental veil also known as yasmak of such transparency that it hides nothing of her pretty face, contrary to the traditions. The veil goes up to the eyebrows in the life-size version but remains under the eyes in the other painting. These are fashion pictures. The woman is a supermodel of modernity in Constantinople at the time of the last Sultans.
3
1890 Koranic Instruction
2019 SOLD for £ 4.6M by Sotheby's
On October 22, 2019, Sotheby's sold for £ 4.6M from a lower estimate of £ 3M Koranic Instruction, oil on canvas 80 x 60 cm painted by Hamdy Bey in 1890, lot 21.
In the luxurious interior of the Bursa Green Mosque, the standing teacher reads the book aloud without looking at the disciple. This serious man forgot to take off his babouches. The student is a mature man holding a closed book with a jaded attitude. He is a self-portrait of the artist, from a photograph that has been identified.
On May 14, 2016, Artam Antik sold at lot 130 for TL 13.5M, worth £ 3.16M at that time, a view of the front of the Green Mosque, oil on canvas 185 x 100 cm painted in 1882. The sunny steps and entrance are animated with faithful in the best European Orientalist style. Please watch the post sale video shared by the auction house.
A painting 220 x 120 cm showing a man at the entrance of a mosque room was sold by Antik A.S. in 2004 for TL 5M, worth US$ 3.9M at that time.
In the luxurious interior of the Bursa Green Mosque, the standing teacher reads the book aloud without looking at the disciple. This serious man forgot to take off his babouches. The student is a mature man holding a closed book with a jaded attitude. He is a self-portrait of the artist, from a photograph that has been identified.
On May 14, 2016, Artam Antik sold at lot 130 for TL 13.5M, worth £ 3.16M at that time, a view of the front of the Green Mosque, oil on canvas 185 x 100 cm painted in 1882. The sunny steps and entrance are animated with faithful in the best European Orientalist style. Please watch the post sale video shared by the auction house.
A painting 220 x 120 cm showing a man at the entrance of a mosque room was sold by Antik A.S. in 2004 for TL 5M, worth US$ 3.9M at that time.
1883 Antony and Cleopatra by Alma-Tadema
2011 SOLD for $ 29M by Sotheby's
The Dutch artist Lawrence Alma-Tadema moved to England in 1870. Taking advantage of the pre-Raphaelite fashion for ancient themes, he spent the rest of his career there. His business was flourishing and meticulously managed, and he was covered with honors in Victorian and Edwardian England.
Alma-Tadema paints the antique passions, with a sharp drawing and bright colors that evoke the Orient. He depicts the most beautiful women and their lovers, languid to the limits of debauchery. He surrounds them with luxurious objects for which he accumulates a strong documentation through his trips to Greco-Roman sites, his visits to museums and his abundant collection of photographs.
In 1883 Alma-Tadema is inspired by Shakespeare's play to paint the First meeting of Antony and Cleopatra for a private commission. The queen displays her beauty as in a window, in a barge covered with a canopy. The lover docks in a sort of gondola driven by Roman soldiers. Between the two, a slave girl plays the flute.
The composition is bold, letting see through the boats the sea and some elements of antique architecture. According to historians, this scene took place in Tarsus in 41 BCE. Never mind : it especially gives Victorian England the envy of the scandalous pleasures which indulgently appealed the greatest characters of antiquity.
This Antony and Cleopatra is the opus CCXLVI in the chronological list maintained by Alma-Tadema for avoiding counterfeits. This oil on panel 66 x 91 cm was sold for $ 29M by Sotheby's on May 5, 2011 from a lower estimate of $ 3M, lot 65. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The display of an instant effect into a dramatic action is a specialty of Alma-Tadema and will influence the scenarios and even some framings of the cinema. He is in some way an orientalist precursor of Norman Rockwell.
Alma-Tadema paints the antique passions, with a sharp drawing and bright colors that evoke the Orient. He depicts the most beautiful women and their lovers, languid to the limits of debauchery. He surrounds them with luxurious objects for which he accumulates a strong documentation through his trips to Greco-Roman sites, his visits to museums and his abundant collection of photographs.
In 1883 Alma-Tadema is inspired by Shakespeare's play to paint the First meeting of Antony and Cleopatra for a private commission. The queen displays her beauty as in a window, in a barge covered with a canopy. The lover docks in a sort of gondola driven by Roman soldiers. Between the two, a slave girl plays the flute.
The composition is bold, letting see through the boats the sea and some elements of antique architecture. According to historians, this scene took place in Tarsus in 41 BCE. Never mind : it especially gives Victorian England the envy of the scandalous pleasures which indulgently appealed the greatest characters of antiquity.
This Antony and Cleopatra is the opus CCXLVI in the chronological list maintained by Alma-Tadema for avoiding counterfeits. This oil on panel 66 x 91 cm was sold for $ 29M by Sotheby's on May 5, 2011 from a lower estimate of $ 3M, lot 65. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The display of an instant effect into a dramatic action is a specialty of Alma-Tadema and will influence the scenarios and even some framings of the cinema. He is in some way an orientalist precursor of Norman Rockwell.
1887 Market Scene in Jaffa by Bauernfeind
2019 SOLD for £ 3.7M by Sotheby's
After admiring the monuments of Italy, the German architect Gustav Bauernfeind decides to become a painter and sets up his workshop in Munich in 1876. In 1880 he embarks on his first tour to the Middle East. He observes with passion how everyday life in traditional attire fits harmoniously with monuments and streets from ancient times.
Bauernfeind then alternates long stays in the Levant with periods in Munich during which he paints Orientalist scenes for his clients and participates in exhibitions. He works from photographs with an abundance of detail that makes his work an irreplaceable testimony of social life. He settles permanently in Palestine in 1896.
Neglected at that time by tourists, Jaffa pleases Bauernfeind to such a point that he shares the hard life of the inhabitants bothered by heat and by some insecurity and threatened by diseases. This home port also allows him to make frequent visits to Jerusalem.
On October 22, 2019, Sotheby's sold at lot 9 for £ 3.7M from a lower estimate of £ 2.5M a market scene in Jaffa, oil on canvas 82 x 109 cm painted in 1887 after three years in Palestine. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The market is a fine excuse to bring together artisans of all specialties, rug weavers, potters, gunsmiths, beside merchants of oranges and melons. Women take water at the well or prepare bread. The dogs sniff baskets or take a nap in the sun, and the kids are nice.
Bauernfeind then alternates long stays in the Levant with periods in Munich during which he paints Orientalist scenes for his clients and participates in exhibitions. He works from photographs with an abundance of detail that makes his work an irreplaceable testimony of social life. He settles permanently in Palestine in 1896.
Neglected at that time by tourists, Jaffa pleases Bauernfeind to such a point that he shares the hard life of the inhabitants bothered by heat and by some insecurity and threatened by diseases. This home port also allows him to make frequent visits to Jerusalem.
On October 22, 2019, Sotheby's sold at lot 9 for £ 3.7M from a lower estimate of £ 2.5M a market scene in Jaffa, oil on canvas 82 x 109 cm painted in 1887 after three years in Palestine. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The market is a fine excuse to bring together artisans of all specialties, rug weavers, potters, gunsmiths, beside merchants of oranges and melons. Women take water at the well or prepare bread. The dogs sniff baskets or take a nap in the sun, and the kids are nice.
1890 Damascus by Bauernfeind
2019 SOLD for £ 3.6M by Christie's
Gustav Bauernfeind works in an architectural firm. In 1880 his sister and brother-in-law then living in Beirut are suggesting him to tour the Middle East.
During his second trip which begins in 1884, Gustav is enthralled by the atmosphere in the streets of Damascus, a city that knew to resist modernism. The presence of this foreigner amuses the locals who nickname him Father Casserole for the shape of his hat.
Back to Munich, he paints a funny scene in which he is tightly surrounded by a circle of on-lookers. This 51 x 68 cm oil on panel was sold for $ 1.08M by Christie's on April 19, 2006.
Now passionate about Islamic art, Gustav returns to Damascus in 1888 to admire the Umayyad Mosque which he had only glimpsed during his previous trip. This monument is one of the wonders of Islam. Its site previously used for an Aramaic temple, a Roman temple and a Christian cathedral has a repercussion both grandiose and mystical.
The difficulties begin. Son of a Jew converted to Christianity, the artist is not a Muslim. To make his drawings, he can reach the outside porticoes by bribing the guards but his access to the rooms is strictly forbidden.
Gustav rightly feels that the lively and colored activity around the facades richly decorated with marbles and mosaics will be the theme of his masterpieces. In 1890 in Munich, he paints two oils on panel showing in different angles the preparation of an outdoor celebration with the soothing shadow of the portico in the foreground. He thus brings a rare direct testimony by a European visitor concerning this site before it was ravaged by fire in 1893.
One of these paintings, 121 x 97 cm, was sold for £ 2.5M by Christie's on July 2, 2008. The other one, 121 x 92 cm, was sold for £ 3.6M by Christie's on April 29, 2019.
During his second trip which begins in 1884, Gustav is enthralled by the atmosphere in the streets of Damascus, a city that knew to resist modernism. The presence of this foreigner amuses the locals who nickname him Father Casserole for the shape of his hat.
Back to Munich, he paints a funny scene in which he is tightly surrounded by a circle of on-lookers. This 51 x 68 cm oil on panel was sold for $ 1.08M by Christie's on April 19, 2006.
Now passionate about Islamic art, Gustav returns to Damascus in 1888 to admire the Umayyad Mosque which he had only glimpsed during his previous trip. This monument is one of the wonders of Islam. Its site previously used for an Aramaic temple, a Roman temple and a Christian cathedral has a repercussion both grandiose and mystical.
The difficulties begin. Son of a Jew converted to Christianity, the artist is not a Muslim. To make his drawings, he can reach the outside porticoes by bribing the guards but his access to the rooms is strictly forbidden.
Gustav rightly feels that the lively and colored activity around the facades richly decorated with marbles and mosaics will be the theme of his masterpieces. In 1890 in Munich, he paints two oils on panel showing in different angles the preparation of an outdoor celebration with the soothing shadow of the portico in the foreground. He thus brings a rare direct testimony by a European visitor concerning this site before it was ravaged by fire in 1893.
One of these paintings, 121 x 97 cm, was sold for £ 2.5M by Christie's on July 2, 2008. The other one, 121 x 92 cm, was sold for £ 3.6M by Christie's on April 29, 2019.
1897 The Tribute by Deutsch
2019 SOLD for £ 4.3M by Sotheby's
At the end of the 1870s, Rudolf Ernst and Ludwig Deutsch leave Vienna for a career in Paris. They specialize in Orientalist painting, characterized by a photographic realism and by a painstaking pictorial technique. Ernst will be mostly inspired by Morocco and Turkey and Deutsch by Egypt.
Deutsch paints types of picturesque characters, based on the photos from his travels. He uses the oil on polished panels for his sharpest compositions.
On October 22, 2019, Sotheby's sold for £ 4.3M from a lower estimate of £ 1.5M a panel 70 x 100 cm painted by Ludwig Deutsch, lot 15.
An elderly dignitary walks towards the steps of a palace with sumptuous walls. He carries a closed scroll that defines his tribute to an invisible lord. He is followed at a distance by a nobleman, a soldier, and a slave bringing a big box which can only contain some offerings.
Other characters complete this scene which is unusually complex for this artist. A towering, heavily armed Nubian soldier blocks the entrance to the palace. The dramatic effect is obtained by the uncertainty about the reception that will be made to the delegation. Unrelated to the action, the group of a dealer and two customers increase this exotic fancy.
A 62 x 80 cm panel similar up to its tiny details was sold by Sotheby's for £ 2.15M on April 23, 2013. This painting is dated 1897. It seems likely that this example was made by Deutsch for the Paris Salon before he painted for a customer the autograph copy that comes to the next auction. Curiously, these two artworks do not seem to be identified by titles in French.
Deutsch paints types of picturesque characters, based on the photos from his travels. He uses the oil on polished panels for his sharpest compositions.
On October 22, 2019, Sotheby's sold for £ 4.3M from a lower estimate of £ 1.5M a panel 70 x 100 cm painted by Ludwig Deutsch, lot 15.
An elderly dignitary walks towards the steps of a palace with sumptuous walls. He carries a closed scroll that defines his tribute to an invisible lord. He is followed at a distance by a nobleman, a soldier, and a slave bringing a big box which can only contain some offerings.
Other characters complete this scene which is unusually complex for this artist. A towering, heavily armed Nubian soldier blocks the entrance to the palace. The dramatic effect is obtained by the uncertainty about the reception that will be made to the delegation. Unrelated to the action, the group of a dealer and two customers increase this exotic fancy.
A 62 x 80 cm panel similar up to its tiny details was sold by Sotheby's for £ 2.15M on April 23, 2013. This painting is dated 1897. It seems likely that this example was made by Deutsch for the Paris Salon before he painted for a customer the autograph copy that comes to the next auction. Curiously, these two artworks do not seem to be identified by titles in French.
#AuctionUpdate Bidders pay tribute to Ludwig Deutsch, as this exquisite painting doubles his previous auction record to bring £4,298,400 pic.twitter.com/3kCtiIRQ17
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) October 22, 2019
