Orientalism before 1900
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Orientalism Islam Russia 1700-1900 French painting < 1860
Chronology : 1830-1839 1850-1859 1879 1880 1883 1897-1898 1897
See also : Orientalism Islam Russia 1700-1900 French painting < 1860
Chronology : 1830-1839 1850-1859 1879 1880 1883 1897-1898 1897
INGRES
Intro
Evolution of Ingres's Orientalist style and themes from La Grande Odalisque to Le Bain Turc.
Introduction to Ingres's Orientalism
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, a leading figure in 19th-century French art, bridged Neoclassicism and Romanticism through his precise linear style and fascination with exotic subjects. His Orientalist works, inspired by European colonial encounters with the Near East—particularly after Napoleon's Egyptian campaign—often used "Oriental" settings as a pretext for exploring the female nude in erotic, passive contexts. These paintings drew from travel accounts, literary fantasies, and Ingres's imagination, as he never visited the regions he depicted. This approach reflected broader Orientalist tropes: portraying the East as mysterious, luxurious, and sexually indulgent, often to cater to Western male gazes and colonial narratives.
Ingres's Orientalist evolution is vividly traced from La Grande Odalisque (1814) to Le Bain Turc (1862), spanning nearly five decades. The earlier work focuses on a solitary, idealized figure, while the later one expands into a multifaceted, communal scene. Both emphasize sensuality, but the progression shows Ingres refining his motifs—such as elongated nudes, luxurious textiles, and harem interiors—into more complex compositions, blending academic precision with romantic exoticism.
La Grande Odalisque (1814)
Commissioned by Napoleon's sister Caroline Murat, La Grande Odalisque exemplifies Ingres's early foray into Orientalism. The painting depicts a reclining concubine (odalisque) in a harem, nude except for jewelry and a turban, gazing directly at the viewer over her shoulder. Her elongated spine—famously adding extra vertebrae for aesthetic effect—creates a serpentine curve, prioritizing ideal beauty over anatomical accuracy. Surrounding props like a peacock fan, hookah, and shimmering fabrics evoke opulence and indolence, symbolizing Western fantasies of Eastern excess.
Thematically, the work embodies Orientalism as a vehicle for eroticism: the odalisque's pose invites voyeurism, portraying her as sexually available yet passive, a "prize" in a colonialist lens. Ingres fused Neoclassical linearity (sharp contours, "licked" surfaces) with Romantic subject matter, rejecting moral instruction for sensual allure. Critics at the 1819 Salon decried its distortions as rebellious, but it captured the era's fascination with the "Orient" as a site of forbidden desire, uninformed by real Eastern cultures.
Le Bain Turc (1862)
Completed late in Ingres's career and modified into a circular tondo format, Le Bain Turc (The Turkish Bath) represents a culmination of his Orientalist themes. It portrays over two dozen nude women in a steamy harem bath, lounging, bathing, and interacting in a haze of perfume, fruits, jewels, and running water. The central figure, a reclining odalisque with a mandolin, echoes earlier motifs, but the scene is crowded and dynamic, with bodies in varied poses—some embracing, others in repose—creating a symphony of flesh tones from pale whites to ivories and browns.
Stylistically, Ingres retained his hallmark precision and Mannerist influences, but amplified the erotic charge through implied sensuality: the women's languid forms, soft lighting, and enclosed space suggest a private, voyeuristic intrusion. The composition draws directly from prior works like The Valpinçon Bather (1808) and La Grande Odalisque, reusing poses and expanding them into a collective fantasy. Oriental elements—vases, incense, and musical instruments—heighten the exoticism, serving as pretexts for nudity in a passive, sexualized context.
Evolution of Style and Themes
Ingres's Orientalist trajectory from La Grande Odalisque to Le Bain Turc reveals a shift from isolation to multiplicity. The 1814 painting isolates a single, elongated nude as the focal point, emphasizing individual allure and direct viewer engagement in a sparse, luxurious setting. By 1862, Ingres had evolved this into a teeming interior, where nudes interact in a more immersive, narrative-like environment—reflecting his lifelong obsession with the female form but now in a choral arrangement.
Thematically, both works use Orientalism to justify erotic depictions, portraying Eastern women as embodiments of sensuality and subjugation. However, Le Bain Turc intensifies this by incorporating racial diversity (varying skin tones) and sensory details (haze, scents), amplifying colonial stereotypes of the East as a realm of unchecked desire. Ingres's style grew more synthetic, revisiting and layering earlier motifs amid Neoclassical restraint and Romantic indulgence. This progression underscores how Orientalism persisted as a fantasy framework, evolving from singular exoticism to elaborate, voyeuristic spectacles, influenced by broader cultural shifts in European perceptions of the "Other."
Introduction to Ingres's Orientalism
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, a leading figure in 19th-century French art, bridged Neoclassicism and Romanticism through his precise linear style and fascination with exotic subjects. His Orientalist works, inspired by European colonial encounters with the Near East—particularly after Napoleon's Egyptian campaign—often used "Oriental" settings as a pretext for exploring the female nude in erotic, passive contexts. These paintings drew from travel accounts, literary fantasies, and Ingres's imagination, as he never visited the regions he depicted. This approach reflected broader Orientalist tropes: portraying the East as mysterious, luxurious, and sexually indulgent, often to cater to Western male gazes and colonial narratives.
Ingres's Orientalist evolution is vividly traced from La Grande Odalisque (1814) to Le Bain Turc (1862), spanning nearly five decades. The earlier work focuses on a solitary, idealized figure, while the later one expands into a multifaceted, communal scene. Both emphasize sensuality, but the progression shows Ingres refining his motifs—such as elongated nudes, luxurious textiles, and harem interiors—into more complex compositions, blending academic precision with romantic exoticism.
La Grande Odalisque (1814)
Commissioned by Napoleon's sister Caroline Murat, La Grande Odalisque exemplifies Ingres's early foray into Orientalism. The painting depicts a reclining concubine (odalisque) in a harem, nude except for jewelry and a turban, gazing directly at the viewer over her shoulder. Her elongated spine—famously adding extra vertebrae for aesthetic effect—creates a serpentine curve, prioritizing ideal beauty over anatomical accuracy. Surrounding props like a peacock fan, hookah, and shimmering fabrics evoke opulence and indolence, symbolizing Western fantasies of Eastern excess.
Thematically, the work embodies Orientalism as a vehicle for eroticism: the odalisque's pose invites voyeurism, portraying her as sexually available yet passive, a "prize" in a colonialist lens. Ingres fused Neoclassical linearity (sharp contours, "licked" surfaces) with Romantic subject matter, rejecting moral instruction for sensual allure. Critics at the 1819 Salon decried its distortions as rebellious, but it captured the era's fascination with the "Orient" as a site of forbidden desire, uninformed by real Eastern cultures.
Le Bain Turc (1862)
Completed late in Ingres's career and modified into a circular tondo format, Le Bain Turc (The Turkish Bath) represents a culmination of his Orientalist themes. It portrays over two dozen nude women in a steamy harem bath, lounging, bathing, and interacting in a haze of perfume, fruits, jewels, and running water. The central figure, a reclining odalisque with a mandolin, echoes earlier motifs, but the scene is crowded and dynamic, with bodies in varied poses—some embracing, others in repose—creating a symphony of flesh tones from pale whites to ivories and browns.
Stylistically, Ingres retained his hallmark precision and Mannerist influences, but amplified the erotic charge through implied sensuality: the women's languid forms, soft lighting, and enclosed space suggest a private, voyeuristic intrusion. The composition draws directly from prior works like The Valpinçon Bather (1808) and La Grande Odalisque, reusing poses and expanding them into a collective fantasy. Oriental elements—vases, incense, and musical instruments—heighten the exoticism, serving as pretexts for nudity in a passive, sexualized context.
Evolution of Style and Themes
Ingres's Orientalist trajectory from La Grande Odalisque to Le Bain Turc reveals a shift from isolation to multiplicity. The 1814 painting isolates a single, elongated nude as the focal point, emphasizing individual allure and direct viewer engagement in a sparse, luxurious setting. By 1862, Ingres had evolved this into a teeming interior, where nudes interact in a more immersive, narrative-like environment—reflecting his lifelong obsession with the female form but now in a choral arrangement.
Thematically, both works use Orientalism to justify erotic depictions, portraying Eastern women as embodiments of sensuality and subjugation. However, Le Bain Turc intensifies this by incorporating racial diversity (varying skin tones) and sensory details (haze, scents), amplifying colonial stereotypes of the East as a realm of unchecked desire. Ingres's style grew more synthetic, revisiting and layering earlier motifs amid Neoclassical restraint and Romantic indulgence. This progression underscores how Orientalism persisted as a fantasy framework, evolving from singular exoticism to elaborate, voyeuristic spectacles, influenced by broader cultural shifts in European perceptions of the "Other."
Overview, psychological analysis and art legacy of Ingres.
Overview of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780–1867) was a French Neoclassical painter born in Montauban, southern France, the eldest child of a multifaceted artist father who nurtured his early talents in drawing, music, and violin. His formal education was disrupted by the French Revolution, leading him to study at the Académie Royale in Toulouse from 1791, where he excelled in life drawing and composition. In 1797, he moved to Paris to train under Jacques-Louis David, the leading Neoclassicist, and won the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1801 for The Envoys of Agamemnon, though funding delays kept him in Paris until 1806.
Ingres spent significant time in Italy (Rome 1806–1820, Florence 1820–1824, and Rome again 1835–1841 as director of the Académie de France), where he honed his style amid financial struggles post-Napoleon, relying on portrait commissions and pencil sketches for tourists. Returning to Paris in 1824, his The Vow of Louis XIII marked a triumphant Salon debut, earning him accolades, including the Legion of Honor and election to the Académie des Beaux-Arts. He opened a teaching studio, became a professor at the École des Beaux-Arts (1829), and briefly its president (1833), but hypersensitivity to criticism—such as the backlash against The Martyrdom of Saint Symphorian (1834)—prompted a retreat to Rome. Later successes included Antiochus and Stratonice (1840) and retrospectives in 1846 and 1855. He married Madeleine Chapelle in 1813 (she died in 1849) and Julie Delaporte in 1852, and served as a senator under Napoleon III from 1862. Ingres died of pneumonia in Paris at age 86, bequeathing his studio to Montauban, now the Musée Ingres.
Stylistically, Ingres championed Neoclassicism, emphasizing precise line, idealized forms, and historical subjects inspired by Raphael, Poussin, and ancient art. Yet he infused Romantic sensuality through distorted anatomy, exotic themes (e.g., Orientalist nudes like La Grande Odalisque, 1814), and psychological depth in portraits (e.g., Monsieur Bertin, 1832). His oeuvre spans history paintings, portraits, and nudes, blending academic orthodoxy with innovative abstraction.
Psychological Analysis
Ingres's personality was marked by perfectionism, hypersensitivity, and a resolute independence that shaped his art profoundly. He was notoriously sensitive to criticism, reacting with fury to negative reviews—such as those labeling his early works "Gothic" or anatomically flawed—leading to dramatic withdrawals, like swearing off Salons after 1834 and isolating himself in Rome to refine his style away from peers. This stemmed partly from lifelong insecurities about his interrupted education during the Revolution, which he viewed as a "deficiency" fueling self-doubt, yet driving his ambition to prove himself through monumental history paintings glorifying intellect and order.
His psyche revealed a tension between conservative ideals and inner experimentation: he idolized Raphael as embodying "beauty and goodness," prioritizing drawing as "probity" and "inner form" over color's emotionalism, famously clashing with Romantic rival Delacroix in a coffee-spilling outburst declaring line as "honesty." This Poussiniste stance (line over color) reflected a desire for control and eternal truth amid post-Revolutionary chaos, manifesting in works like Oedipus and the Sphinx (1808–27), where the hero's calm intellect confronts fate's doom, symbolizing psychological resilience—Freud owned a print, linking it to the Oedipus complex. Ingres's Orientalist fantasies, drawn from literary sources without visiting the East, projected escapist desires for sensuality and exotic "otherness," as in The Turkish Bath (1862), with its distorted, intertwined nudes evoking languid eroticism and voyeuristic intrusion, blending repression with subconscious liberation.
He exhibited paranoia and orneriness in rivalries, yet showed moral stubbornness—abandoning a portrait of the despised Duke of Alva—and disdain for commercial work, viewing tourist sketches as beneath his calling as a "painter of history." His distortions (e.g., elongated spines, boneless limbs) prioritized aesthetic idealization over realism, suggesting a psychological urge to transcend nature's imperfections, creating an uncanny strangeness that anticipated modernist explorations of the subconscious. Overall, Ingres's art embodied internal conflicts: guarding academic tradition against Romantic excess while subtly innovating, reflecting a mind torn between order and sensuous rebellion.
Art Legacy
Ingres's legacy endures as a bridge between Neoclassicism and modernism, defending Classical ideals against Romanticism—epitomized in his rivalry with Delacroix—while his innovations influenced 20th-century art. As David's successor, he perpetuated line-based precision and idealization, teaching at major institutions and directing the Académie in Rome, shaping generations through his studio, one of Paris's largest. His portraits, often dismissed by him as "potboilers," are now his greatest contribution, capturing 19th-century society's essence with immediacy and psychological insight.
Critics initially vilified his "primitivizing" distortions and eclecticism as regressive, but these anticipated modernism: Picasso drew from his abstractions in Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907), Matisse from odalisques, Degas from draftsmanship, and Surrealists from familiar-yet-peculiar forms. Renoir and Abstract Expressionists like Barnett Newman saw him as proto-abstract; Cubism echoed his cerebral lines. Feminist critiques, like the Guerrilla Girls' 1989 poster reworking La Grande Odalisque, highlight his Orientalism's sexist gaze, sparking discussions on representation. Institutions like the Musée Ingres preserve his 4,000+ drawings and paintings, cementing his role in updating Renaissance traditions for modernity, influencing Impressionists and beyond despite his anti-Romantic stance.
Overview of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780–1867) was a French Neoclassical painter born in Montauban, southern France, the eldest child of a multifaceted artist father who nurtured his early talents in drawing, music, and violin. His formal education was disrupted by the French Revolution, leading him to study at the Académie Royale in Toulouse from 1791, where he excelled in life drawing and composition. In 1797, he moved to Paris to train under Jacques-Louis David, the leading Neoclassicist, and won the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1801 for The Envoys of Agamemnon, though funding delays kept him in Paris until 1806.
Ingres spent significant time in Italy (Rome 1806–1820, Florence 1820–1824, and Rome again 1835–1841 as director of the Académie de France), where he honed his style amid financial struggles post-Napoleon, relying on portrait commissions and pencil sketches for tourists. Returning to Paris in 1824, his The Vow of Louis XIII marked a triumphant Salon debut, earning him accolades, including the Legion of Honor and election to the Académie des Beaux-Arts. He opened a teaching studio, became a professor at the École des Beaux-Arts (1829), and briefly its president (1833), but hypersensitivity to criticism—such as the backlash against The Martyrdom of Saint Symphorian (1834)—prompted a retreat to Rome. Later successes included Antiochus and Stratonice (1840) and retrospectives in 1846 and 1855. He married Madeleine Chapelle in 1813 (she died in 1849) and Julie Delaporte in 1852, and served as a senator under Napoleon III from 1862. Ingres died of pneumonia in Paris at age 86, bequeathing his studio to Montauban, now the Musée Ingres.
Stylistically, Ingres championed Neoclassicism, emphasizing precise line, idealized forms, and historical subjects inspired by Raphael, Poussin, and ancient art. Yet he infused Romantic sensuality through distorted anatomy, exotic themes (e.g., Orientalist nudes like La Grande Odalisque, 1814), and psychological depth in portraits (e.g., Monsieur Bertin, 1832). His oeuvre spans history paintings, portraits, and nudes, blending academic orthodoxy with innovative abstraction.
Psychological Analysis
Ingres's personality was marked by perfectionism, hypersensitivity, and a resolute independence that shaped his art profoundly. He was notoriously sensitive to criticism, reacting with fury to negative reviews—such as those labeling his early works "Gothic" or anatomically flawed—leading to dramatic withdrawals, like swearing off Salons after 1834 and isolating himself in Rome to refine his style away from peers. This stemmed partly from lifelong insecurities about his interrupted education during the Revolution, which he viewed as a "deficiency" fueling self-doubt, yet driving his ambition to prove himself through monumental history paintings glorifying intellect and order.
His psyche revealed a tension between conservative ideals and inner experimentation: he idolized Raphael as embodying "beauty and goodness," prioritizing drawing as "probity" and "inner form" over color's emotionalism, famously clashing with Romantic rival Delacroix in a coffee-spilling outburst declaring line as "honesty." This Poussiniste stance (line over color) reflected a desire for control and eternal truth amid post-Revolutionary chaos, manifesting in works like Oedipus and the Sphinx (1808–27), where the hero's calm intellect confronts fate's doom, symbolizing psychological resilience—Freud owned a print, linking it to the Oedipus complex. Ingres's Orientalist fantasies, drawn from literary sources without visiting the East, projected escapist desires for sensuality and exotic "otherness," as in The Turkish Bath (1862), with its distorted, intertwined nudes evoking languid eroticism and voyeuristic intrusion, blending repression with subconscious liberation.
He exhibited paranoia and orneriness in rivalries, yet showed moral stubbornness—abandoning a portrait of the despised Duke of Alva—and disdain for commercial work, viewing tourist sketches as beneath his calling as a "painter of history." His distortions (e.g., elongated spines, boneless limbs) prioritized aesthetic idealization over realism, suggesting a psychological urge to transcend nature's imperfections, creating an uncanny strangeness that anticipated modernist explorations of the subconscious. Overall, Ingres's art embodied internal conflicts: guarding academic tradition against Romantic excess while subtly innovating, reflecting a mind torn between order and sensuous rebellion.
Art Legacy
Ingres's legacy endures as a bridge between Neoclassicism and modernism, defending Classical ideals against Romanticism—epitomized in his rivalry with Delacroix—while his innovations influenced 20th-century art. As David's successor, he perpetuated line-based precision and idealization, teaching at major institutions and directing the Académie in Rome, shaping generations through his studio, one of Paris's largest. His portraits, often dismissed by him as "potboilers," are now his greatest contribution, capturing 19th-century society's essence with immediacy and psychological insight.
Critics initially vilified his "primitivizing" distortions and eclecticism as regressive, but these anticipated modernism: Picasso drew from his abstractions in Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907), Matisse from odalisques, Degas from draftsmanship, and Surrealists from familiar-yet-peculiar forms. Renoir and Abstract Expressionists like Barnett Newman saw him as proto-abstract; Cubism echoed his cerebral lines. Feminist critiques, like the Guerrilla Girls' 1989 poster reworking La Grande Odalisque, highlight his Orientalism's sexist gaze, sparking discussions on representation. Institutions like the Musée Ingres preserve his 4,000+ drawings and paintings, cementing his role in updating Renaissance traditions for modernity, influencing Impressionists and beyond despite his anti-Romantic stance.
1
masterpiece
1814 La Grande Odalique
Louvre
The image is shared by Wikimedia
2
masterpiece
1862 Le Bain Turc
Louvre
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Grok thought :
Quote
EUROPEAN ART @EuropeanArtHIST Feb 8, 2019
The Turkish Bath (Le Bain turc) is an oil painting by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, initially completed between 1852 and 1859, but modified in 1862. The painting depicts a group of nude women at a pool in a harem. (Musée du Louvre, Paris) #Ingres
Grok thought :
Quote
EUROPEAN ART @EuropeanArtHIST Feb 8, 2019
The Turkish Bath (Le Bain turc) is an oil painting by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, initially completed between 1852 and 1859, but modified in 1862. The painting depicts a group of nude women at a pool in a harem. (Musée du Louvre, Paris) #Ingres
- Ingres' "The Turkish Bath," shared in the post, originated as a rectangular canvas from 1852–1859 but was radically reshaped into a circular tondo in 1862 at the artist's age of 82, intensifying its intimate, voyeuristic view of nude women in a harem.
- Drawing from Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's 1717 letters on Ottoman baths, the painting embodies 19th-century Orientalism, recycling figures from Ingres' earlier nudes like "La Grande Odalisque" to idealize European fantasies over authentic Eastern depictions.
- Initially rejected by collectors for its eroticism, the work joined the Louvre in 1911 after advocacy efforts and later inspired modern artists, including Picasso's "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" and Sylvia Sleigh's gender-reversed critique of the male gaze.
Special Report
Orientalism in 19th century French and British Art
Introduction to Orientalism in 19th-Century French Art
Orientalism in art refers to the depiction of the "Orient"—regions including present-day Turkey, Greece, the Middle East, and North Africa—by Western artists, particularly those from France during the 19th century. This movement emerged as part of the Romantic era, fueled by European fascination with exotic cultures, landscapes, and peoples. French artists played a central role, often portraying the East as a land of mystery, sensuality, violence, and backwardness, which served both artistic and ideological purposes, including support for imperialism. The trend was sparked by increased contact following Napoleon Bonaparte's 1798 invasion of Egypt, which lasted until 1801 and inspired waves of travelers, scholars, and artists. A key catalyst was the French government's publication of Description de l’Égypte (1809–22), a monumental 24-volume work documenting Egypt's architecture, monuments, natural history, and society, which profoundly influenced French aesthetics and popularized Egyptian motifs in Empire-style decorative arts.
Historical Context
The 19th century saw France's colonial expansion, including the conquest of Algeria in the 1830s, which provided artists with direct access to North African settings. This era's conflicts, such as the Greek War of Independence (1821–30) and the Crimean War (1853–56), further shaped depictions of the Orient as a site of turmoil and heroism. Many French painters traveled to the region, sketching scenes and collecting artifacts, while others relied on imagination or second-hand accounts. Photography's advent in the late century added a layer of perceived objectivity, though it often reinforced romanticized views. Orientalism intertwined with Romanticism, emphasizing emotion, exoticism, and the sublime, contrasting with the neoclassical restraint of earlier periods.
Key French Artists and Works
French artists dominated Orientalism, blending observation with fantasy to create vivid, often propagandistic images.
Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863): As the leader of French Romanticism, Delacroix visited North Africa in 1832, inspiring works that captured violence, pathos, and sensuality. His Massacre at Chios (1824, Louvre) depicts Greek suffering during the war of independence, embodying uncontrollable forces and emotional extremes. The Death of Sardanapalus (1827–28, Louvre) shows an Assyrian king's dramatic suicide amid chaos, highlighting themes of destruction and excess. Perhaps his most iconic Orientalist piece is Women of Algiers in Their Apartment (1834, Louvre), portraying three women in a harem with rich colors and intimate details, evoking mystery and eroticism. Another example, The Fanatics of Tangier (1838), illustrates religious frenzy in Morocco with dynamic, gruesome energy.
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780–1867): Never traveling to the East, Ingres drew from literary and artistic precedents to create idealized, erotic odalisques (female slaves or concubines). His La Grande Odalisque (1814, Louvre) features a reclining nude with elongated proportions, blending classical beauty with exotic accessories like a turban and hookah, symbolizing sensual isolation. Works like Odalisque in Grisaille (ca. 1824–34) further explore these themes through monochromatic studies.
Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824–1904): A master of academic realism, Gérôme traveled extensively and depicted everyday Oriental life with meticulous detail. His The Snake Charmer (1879) portrays a nude boy performing before an audience in a tiled interior, evoking voyeurism and exotic ritual.
Other works include Bashi-Bazouk (1868–69), showing Turkish mercenaries in leisure, and harem scenes like Pool in a Harem (ca. 1876), indulging in fantasies of opulence and sensuality.
Other Notable Artists: Antoine-Jean Gros supported Napoleonic propaganda with Napoleon in the Plague House at Jaffa (1804, Louvre), idealizing French intervention. Théodore Chassériau's Scene in the Jewish Quarter of Constantine (1851) focuses on domesticity, while Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps elevated military scenes in The Turkish Patrol (ca. 1855–56). Later figures like Henri Regnault and Gustave Boulanger continued with dramatic harem and execution scenes.
Common Themes and Motifs
Orientalist paintings often featured recurring elements reflecting European projections:
Influences and Legacy
Orientalism drew from Romantic literature (e.g., Byron), earlier artists like Titian and Ingres' neoclassicism, and direct travels. It influenced decorative arts, architecture (e.g., Arab Halls), furniture, and textiles, appealing to elites and the Aesthetic movement. The style persisted into the 20th century, impacting Fauvists like Henri Matisse (who created his own odalisque series) and Cubists like Pablo Picasso, who reinterpreted Delacroix's Women of Algiers in 1954–55.
Criticisms
Modern scholarship, influenced by Edward Said's Orientalism (1978), critiques these works for perpetuating colonial stereotypes: the East as immoral, barbaric, and passive, often through a voyeuristic, male gaze that projected Western desires onto "exotic" bodies. Many scenes were fabricated in European studios using props, blending reality with fantasy to serve imperialist narratives. Despite this, Orientalism remains a vital lens for understanding 19th-century cultural exchanges and power dynamics.
Orientalism in art refers to the depiction of the "Orient"—regions including present-day Turkey, Greece, the Middle East, and North Africa—by Western artists, particularly those from France during the 19th century. This movement emerged as part of the Romantic era, fueled by European fascination with exotic cultures, landscapes, and peoples. French artists played a central role, often portraying the East as a land of mystery, sensuality, violence, and backwardness, which served both artistic and ideological purposes, including support for imperialism. The trend was sparked by increased contact following Napoleon Bonaparte's 1798 invasion of Egypt, which lasted until 1801 and inspired waves of travelers, scholars, and artists. A key catalyst was the French government's publication of Description de l’Égypte (1809–22), a monumental 24-volume work documenting Egypt's architecture, monuments, natural history, and society, which profoundly influenced French aesthetics and popularized Egyptian motifs in Empire-style decorative arts.
Historical Context
The 19th century saw France's colonial expansion, including the conquest of Algeria in the 1830s, which provided artists with direct access to North African settings. This era's conflicts, such as the Greek War of Independence (1821–30) and the Crimean War (1853–56), further shaped depictions of the Orient as a site of turmoil and heroism. Many French painters traveled to the region, sketching scenes and collecting artifacts, while others relied on imagination or second-hand accounts. Photography's advent in the late century added a layer of perceived objectivity, though it often reinforced romanticized views. Orientalism intertwined with Romanticism, emphasizing emotion, exoticism, and the sublime, contrasting with the neoclassical restraint of earlier periods.
Key French Artists and Works
French artists dominated Orientalism, blending observation with fantasy to create vivid, often propagandistic images.
Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863): As the leader of French Romanticism, Delacroix visited North Africa in 1832, inspiring works that captured violence, pathos, and sensuality. His Massacre at Chios (1824, Louvre) depicts Greek suffering during the war of independence, embodying uncontrollable forces and emotional extremes. The Death of Sardanapalus (1827–28, Louvre) shows an Assyrian king's dramatic suicide amid chaos, highlighting themes of destruction and excess. Perhaps his most iconic Orientalist piece is Women of Algiers in Their Apartment (1834, Louvre), portraying three women in a harem with rich colors and intimate details, evoking mystery and eroticism. Another example, The Fanatics of Tangier (1838), illustrates religious frenzy in Morocco with dynamic, gruesome energy.
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780–1867): Never traveling to the East, Ingres drew from literary and artistic precedents to create idealized, erotic odalisques (female slaves or concubines). His La Grande Odalisque (1814, Louvre) features a reclining nude with elongated proportions, blending classical beauty with exotic accessories like a turban and hookah, symbolizing sensual isolation. Works like Odalisque in Grisaille (ca. 1824–34) further explore these themes through monochromatic studies.
Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824–1904): A master of academic realism, Gérôme traveled extensively and depicted everyday Oriental life with meticulous detail. His The Snake Charmer (1879) portrays a nude boy performing before an audience in a tiled interior, evoking voyeurism and exotic ritual.
Other works include Bashi-Bazouk (1868–69), showing Turkish mercenaries in leisure, and harem scenes like Pool in a Harem (ca. 1876), indulging in fantasies of opulence and sensuality.
Other Notable Artists: Antoine-Jean Gros supported Napoleonic propaganda with Napoleon in the Plague House at Jaffa (1804, Louvre), idealizing French intervention. Théodore Chassériau's Scene in the Jewish Quarter of Constantine (1851) focuses on domesticity, while Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps elevated military scenes in The Turkish Patrol (ca. 1855–56). Later figures like Henri Regnault and Gustave Boulanger continued with dramatic harem and execution scenes.
Common Themes and Motifs
Orientalist paintings often featured recurring elements reflecting European projections:
- Sensuality and the Harem: Inaccessible to Western men, harems were imagined as realms of erotic luxury, with odalisques reclining amid rich fabrics and jewels. These scenes symbolized cultivated beauty but perpetuated stereotypes of Eastern immorality and passivity.
- Violence and Barbarism: Early works emphasized conflict, such as massacres or fanaticism, portraying the East as chaotic yet tamable by Western civilization.
- Everyday Exoticism: Later depictions shifted to genre scenes of markets, mosques, prayer, hookah smoking, and trades, blending observation with romantic idealization.
- Imperial Propaganda: Many images justified colonialism by showing the Orient as backward, enlightened by French rule.
Influences and Legacy
Orientalism drew from Romantic literature (e.g., Byron), earlier artists like Titian and Ingres' neoclassicism, and direct travels. It influenced decorative arts, architecture (e.g., Arab Halls), furniture, and textiles, appealing to elites and the Aesthetic movement. The style persisted into the 20th century, impacting Fauvists like Henri Matisse (who created his own odalisque series) and Cubists like Pablo Picasso, who reinterpreted Delacroix's Women of Algiers in 1954–55.
Criticisms
Modern scholarship, influenced by Edward Said's Orientalism (1978), critiques these works for perpetuating colonial stereotypes: the East as immoral, barbaric, and passive, often through a voyeuristic, male gaze that projected Western desires onto "exotic" bodies. Many scenes were fabricated in European studios using props, blending reality with fantasy to serve imperialist narratives. Despite this, Orientalism remains a vital lens for understanding 19th-century cultural exchanges and power dynamics.
Introduction to British Orientalist Art
British Orientalist art refers to the depiction of the "Orient"—encompassing the Middle East, North Africa, India, and parts of Asia—by artists from the United Kingdom during the 18th to early 20th centuries, with a peak in the 19th century. This movement was part of the broader European Orientalism, but British interpretations often emphasized topographical accuracy, architectural grandeur, and everyday scenes, reflecting the empire's colonial interests in regions like India, Egypt, and the Holy Land. Unlike the more dramatic and sensual French Orientalism, British works frequently blended Romantic idealism with documentary precision, influenced by travel, archaeology, and biblical scholarship. The term "Orientalism" in this context often blurred fantasy with reality, catering to a Victorian audience fascinated by exotic lands.
Historical Context
British Orientalism emerged amid the expansion of the British Empire, particularly after the Napoleonic Wars and the opening of trade routes. The 1798 French invasion of Egypt sparked interest, but Britain's control over India (via the East India Company) and later Egypt (Suez Canal, 1869) provided direct access for artists. Many traveled as part of diplomatic missions, archaeological expeditions, or personal adventures, documenting sites with sketches and watercolors. The Greek War of Independence (1821–1830) and the Crimean War (1853–1856) added themes of conflict. By the mid-19th century, improved travel (steamships, railways) and publications like travelogues fueled demand. Institutions like the Royal Academy and the British Museum promoted these works, which served both aesthetic and imperial purposes, portraying the East as a realm of ancient wonders ripe for British exploration and "civilizing."
Key British Artists and Works
British Orientalist artists often prioritized realism over the French flair for drama, focusing on landscapes, ruins, and interiors. Many resided in the East for extended periods, lending authenticity to their depictions.
David Roberts (1796–1864): A Scottish painter and lithographer, Roberts traveled to Egypt, Syria, and the Holy Land in 1838–1839, producing detailed sketches published as lithographs in The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, and Nubia (1842–1849). His works, like Approach of the Simoon, Desert of Gizeh (1849), capture dramatic natural phenomena amid ancient monuments, blending Romantic sublime with topographical precision.
John Frederick Lewis (1804–1876): Known for his immersive Cairo residency (1841–1851), Lewis depicted intricate harem and street scenes with meticulous detail. The Harem (1850) portrays veiled women in a luxurious interior, evoking seclusion and opulence through vibrant watercolors and oils, influenced by his adoption of local dress and customs.
William Holman Hunt (1827–1910): A Pre-Raphaelite founder, Hunt traveled to the Holy Land (1854–1856, 1869–1872) for biblical authenticity. Works like The Finding of the Saviour in the Temple (1860) and The Scapegoat (1854–1855) use Eastern settings to enhance religious narratives, with symbolic landscapes and detailed ethnography.
Other Notable Artists: Edward Lear (1812–1888) created poetic landscapes of India and Egypt in works like The Pyramids Road, Gizah (1873). Thomas Allom (1804–1872) illustrated Constantinople in engravings. Richard Dadd (1817–1886), in his later asylum works, produced fantastical Oriental scenes like The Flight out of Egypt (1849–1850). Female artists like Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon (1827–1891) offered rarer perspectives on Algerian life.
Common Themes and Motifs
British Orientalist art featured motifs reflecting imperial curiosity:
Influenced by Romantic literature (e.g., Lord Byron), French Orientalism (Delacroix), and travel accounts, British artists incorporated Eastern motifs into decorative arts, architecture (e.g., Brighton's Royal Pavilion), and aesthetics. The movement waned with modernism but inspired 20th-century figures like Matisse and Picasso, who reinterpreted Oriental themes. Major collections at the Tate Britain, British Museum, and Yale Center for British Art preserve this legacy, with exhibitions like The Lure of the East (2008) highlighting cultural exchanges.
Criticisms
Contemporary critiques, drawing from Edward Said's Orientalism (1978), view British works as reinforcing colonial stereotypes: the East as static, irrational, and in need of Western intervention. Many scenes were idealized or fabricated, perpetuating a male, imperial gaze that exoticized and dehumanized subjects. Recent exhibitions, like the British Museum's Inspired by the East (2019), attempt to reframe it as mutual influence, including works by Eastern artists and converts, but debates persist over cultural appropriation.
British Orientalist art refers to the depiction of the "Orient"—encompassing the Middle East, North Africa, India, and parts of Asia—by artists from the United Kingdom during the 18th to early 20th centuries, with a peak in the 19th century. This movement was part of the broader European Orientalism, but British interpretations often emphasized topographical accuracy, architectural grandeur, and everyday scenes, reflecting the empire's colonial interests in regions like India, Egypt, and the Holy Land. Unlike the more dramatic and sensual French Orientalism, British works frequently blended Romantic idealism with documentary precision, influenced by travel, archaeology, and biblical scholarship. The term "Orientalism" in this context often blurred fantasy with reality, catering to a Victorian audience fascinated by exotic lands.
Historical Context
British Orientalism emerged amid the expansion of the British Empire, particularly after the Napoleonic Wars and the opening of trade routes. The 1798 French invasion of Egypt sparked interest, but Britain's control over India (via the East India Company) and later Egypt (Suez Canal, 1869) provided direct access for artists. Many traveled as part of diplomatic missions, archaeological expeditions, or personal adventures, documenting sites with sketches and watercolors. The Greek War of Independence (1821–1830) and the Crimean War (1853–1856) added themes of conflict. By the mid-19th century, improved travel (steamships, railways) and publications like travelogues fueled demand. Institutions like the Royal Academy and the British Museum promoted these works, which served both aesthetic and imperial purposes, portraying the East as a realm of ancient wonders ripe for British exploration and "civilizing."
Key British Artists and Works
British Orientalist artists often prioritized realism over the French flair for drama, focusing on landscapes, ruins, and interiors. Many resided in the East for extended periods, lending authenticity to their depictions.
David Roberts (1796–1864): A Scottish painter and lithographer, Roberts traveled to Egypt, Syria, and the Holy Land in 1838–1839, producing detailed sketches published as lithographs in The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, and Nubia (1842–1849). His works, like Approach of the Simoon, Desert of Gizeh (1849), capture dramatic natural phenomena amid ancient monuments, blending Romantic sublime with topographical precision.
John Frederick Lewis (1804–1876): Known for his immersive Cairo residency (1841–1851), Lewis depicted intricate harem and street scenes with meticulous detail. The Harem (1850) portrays veiled women in a luxurious interior, evoking seclusion and opulence through vibrant watercolors and oils, influenced by his adoption of local dress and customs.
William Holman Hunt (1827–1910): A Pre-Raphaelite founder, Hunt traveled to the Holy Land (1854–1856, 1869–1872) for biblical authenticity. Works like The Finding of the Saviour in the Temple (1860) and The Scapegoat (1854–1855) use Eastern settings to enhance religious narratives, with symbolic landscapes and detailed ethnography.
Other Notable Artists: Edward Lear (1812–1888) created poetic landscapes of India and Egypt in works like The Pyramids Road, Gizah (1873). Thomas Allom (1804–1872) illustrated Constantinople in engravings. Richard Dadd (1817–1886), in his later asylum works, produced fantastical Oriental scenes like The Flight out of Egypt (1849–1850). Female artists like Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon (1827–1891) offered rarer perspectives on Algerian life.
Common Themes and Motifs
British Orientalist art featured motifs reflecting imperial curiosity:
- Landscapes and Ruins: Emphasis on ancient sites like pyramids, temples, and bazaars, symbolizing timeless decay and British archaeological prowess.
- Daily Life and Genre Scenes: Street markets, prayer rituals, and domestic interiors, often with a voyeuristic lens on "exotic" customs.
- Biblical and Historical Narratives: The Holy Land as a setting for religious stories, aligning with Protestant interests.
- Sensuality and the Harem: Less explicit than French works, but present in secluded female spaces, evoking mystery. These themes portrayed the East as picturesque yet "other," blending admiration with superiority.
Influenced by Romantic literature (e.g., Lord Byron), French Orientalism (Delacroix), and travel accounts, British artists incorporated Eastern motifs into decorative arts, architecture (e.g., Brighton's Royal Pavilion), and aesthetics. The movement waned with modernism but inspired 20th-century figures like Matisse and Picasso, who reinterpreted Oriental themes. Major collections at the Tate Britain, British Museum, and Yale Center for British Art preserve this legacy, with exhibitions like The Lure of the East (2008) highlighting cultural exchanges.
Criticisms
Contemporary critiques, drawing from Edward Said's Orientalism (1978), view British works as reinforcing colonial stereotypes: the East as static, irrational, and in need of Western intervention. Many scenes were idealized or fabricated, perpetuating a male, imperial gaze that exoticized and dehumanized subjects. Recent exhibitions, like the British Museum's Inspired by the East (2019), attempt to reframe it as mutual influence, including works by Eastern artists and converts, but debates persist over cultural appropriation.
DELACROIX
1
Special Report
Odalisques
Overview of Delacroix's Odalisques
Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863), a leading figure of French Romanticism, played a pivotal role in popularizing the odalisque motif in Western art during the 19th century. Odalisques—depicted as concubines or female servants in Ottoman harems—embodied Orientalist fantasies, blending exoticism, sensuality, and escapism. Delacroix's portrayals were inspired by his 1832 diplomatic trip to Morocco and Algeria, where he sketched local women, architecture, and customs, though many works were idealized reconstructions painted in Paris. Unlike the neoclassical precision of contemporaries like Ingres, Delacroix infused his odalisques with dynamic brushwork, vibrant colors, and emotional intensity, emphasizing atmosphere over anatomical accuracy. His odalisques influenced generations of artists by romanticizing the "Orient" as a realm of luxury and mystery, while critiquing (subtly) colonial power dynamics. This motif bridged Romanticism and modernism, impacting Symbolism, Fauvism, and Cubism.
Key Works in Delacroix's Odalisque Series
Delacroix produced several odalisque-themed paintings, often featuring reclining or lounging women in opulent interiors. These works drew from literary sources like Lord Byron's poetry and reflected France's colonial interests in North Africa. Notable examples include:
The Women of Algiers in Their Apartment (1834): Oil on canvas (180 × 229 cm, Louvre, Paris). This masterpiece shows three seated women in a harem, attended by a Black servant, with diffused light illuminating rich textiles, jewelry, and a hookah. The composition creates a voyeuristic intimacy, blending realism from Delacroix's sketches with imagined sensuality. A second version (1849, Musée Fabre, Montpellier) adjusts the figures forward for greater immediacy. It shocked and captivated the 1834 Paris Salon for its vivid colors and exotic allure.
Odalisque (c. 1825–1827): Oil on canvas (37.5 × 46 cm, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge). An early work depicting a reclining semi-nude woman on cushions, with a Turkish sword (yatagan) at the foreground. Painted before his North African trip, it relies on studio models and imagination, showcasing sensuous flesh tones and dramatic lighting.
Odalisque Reclining on a Divan (c. 1848–1849): Oil on canvas (38 × 46 cm, Musée d'Art Moderne et d'Art Contemporain, Liège). A later variant with a languid nude against patterned fabrics, emphasizing eroticism and color harmony. It reflects Delacroix's evolving style toward looser brushstrokes.
These paintings vary in scale and detail but consistently use warm palettes, textured surfaces, and shallow spaces to evoke forbidden worlds, influencing the Orientalist genre's proliferation in Europe.Influences on DelacroixDelacroix's odalisques were shaped by a mix of personal experiences, artistic traditions, and cultural contexts:
Travel and Colonialism: His 1832 North African journey provided authentic details—costumes, interiors, and gestures—contrasting with earlier studio-based fantasies. This trip, amid French colonization of Algeria (1830), infused his work with a semi-ethnographic quality, though still romanticized.
Artistic Precedents: Influenced by Venetian masters like Titian (e.g., Venus and Cupid with a Lute Player) for sensual nudes and color vibrancy. He also drew from Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres's neoclassical odalisques, like La Grande Odalisque (1814), but rejected their cool precision for Romantic expressiveness. Literary Romanticism, including Byron and Victor Hugo, fueled his dramatic narratives.
Broader Context: Post-Napoleonic Europe's fascination with the "Orient" as an antidote to industrialization. Delacroix's works subtly critiqued exoticism by humanizing subjects, though they perpetuated stereotypes.
Delacroix's Influence on Later ArtistsDelacroix's odalisques profoundly shaped modern art, particularly through their color experimentation and thematic sensuality, inspiring Fauvism, Post-Impressionism, and beyond. His Women of Algiers became a touchstone for reinterpreting Orientalism.
Special Report
Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863), a leading figure of French Romanticism, played a pivotal role in popularizing the odalisque motif in Western art during the 19th century. Odalisques—depicted as concubines or female servants in Ottoman harems—embodied Orientalist fantasies, blending exoticism, sensuality, and escapism. Delacroix's portrayals were inspired by his 1832 diplomatic trip to Morocco and Algeria, where he sketched local women, architecture, and customs, though many works were idealized reconstructions painted in Paris. Unlike the neoclassical precision of contemporaries like Ingres, Delacroix infused his odalisques with dynamic brushwork, vibrant colors, and emotional intensity, emphasizing atmosphere over anatomical accuracy. His odalisques influenced generations of artists by romanticizing the "Orient" as a realm of luxury and mystery, while critiquing (subtly) colonial power dynamics. This motif bridged Romanticism and modernism, impacting Symbolism, Fauvism, and Cubism.
Key Works in Delacroix's Odalisque Series
Delacroix produced several odalisque-themed paintings, often featuring reclining or lounging women in opulent interiors. These works drew from literary sources like Lord Byron's poetry and reflected France's colonial interests in North Africa. Notable examples include:
The Women of Algiers in Their Apartment (1834): Oil on canvas (180 × 229 cm, Louvre, Paris). This masterpiece shows three seated women in a harem, attended by a Black servant, with diffused light illuminating rich textiles, jewelry, and a hookah. The composition creates a voyeuristic intimacy, blending realism from Delacroix's sketches with imagined sensuality. A second version (1849, Musée Fabre, Montpellier) adjusts the figures forward for greater immediacy. It shocked and captivated the 1834 Paris Salon for its vivid colors and exotic allure.
Odalisque (c. 1825–1827): Oil on canvas (37.5 × 46 cm, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge). An early work depicting a reclining semi-nude woman on cushions, with a Turkish sword (yatagan) at the foreground. Painted before his North African trip, it relies on studio models and imagination, showcasing sensuous flesh tones and dramatic lighting.
Odalisque Reclining on a Divan (c. 1848–1849): Oil on canvas (38 × 46 cm, Musée d'Art Moderne et d'Art Contemporain, Liège). A later variant with a languid nude against patterned fabrics, emphasizing eroticism and color harmony. It reflects Delacroix's evolving style toward looser brushstrokes.
These paintings vary in scale and detail but consistently use warm palettes, textured surfaces, and shallow spaces to evoke forbidden worlds, influencing the Orientalist genre's proliferation in Europe.Influences on DelacroixDelacroix's odalisques were shaped by a mix of personal experiences, artistic traditions, and cultural contexts:
Travel and Colonialism: His 1832 North African journey provided authentic details—costumes, interiors, and gestures—contrasting with earlier studio-based fantasies. This trip, amid French colonization of Algeria (1830), infused his work with a semi-ethnographic quality, though still romanticized.
Artistic Precedents: Influenced by Venetian masters like Titian (e.g., Venus and Cupid with a Lute Player) for sensual nudes and color vibrancy. He also drew from Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres's neoclassical odalisques, like La Grande Odalisque (1814), but rejected their cool precision for Romantic expressiveness. Literary Romanticism, including Byron and Victor Hugo, fueled his dramatic narratives.
Broader Context: Post-Napoleonic Europe's fascination with the "Orient" as an antidote to industrialization. Delacroix's works subtly critiqued exoticism by humanizing subjects, though they perpetuated stereotypes.
Delacroix's Influence on Later ArtistsDelacroix's odalisques profoundly shaped modern art, particularly through their color experimentation and thematic sensuality, inspiring Fauvism, Post-Impressionism, and beyond. His Women of Algiers became a touchstone for reinterpreting Orientalism.
- On Henri Matisse: Matisse, who visited North Africa in 1906 and 1912–1913, echoed Delacroix's vibrant palettes and decorative interiors in his 1920s odalisque series (e.g., Odalisque with Raised Arms, 1923; Decorative Figure on an Ornamental Background, 1926). Matisse admired Delacroix's light and harmony, adapting them to Fauvist abstraction—flattening space and intensifying colors while retaining erotic poses. Delacroix's influence helped Matisse blend figure and decor into unified compositions, as seen in his Blue Nude series (1952).
- On Pablo Picasso: Picasso revered Delacroix, visiting Women of Algiers monthly at the Louvre. Triggered by Matisse's 1954 death, Picasso created his Les Femmes d'Alger series (1954–1955), reinterpreting Delacroix through Cubism—fragmenting forms, clashing colors, and distorting perspectives (e.g., Version O's chaotic ensemble). Picasso saw Delacroix as a "bastard... really good," using his composition as a template to synthesize Analytic and Synthetic Cubism while honoring Matisse's odalisques. This series marked Picasso's late-career renewal, transforming Delacroix's Romantic narrative into modern abstraction.
Special Report
2
1834 Choc de Cavaliers Arabes
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
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.
The 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.
The 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
1
1880 Young Woman Reading
2019 SOLD for £ 6.7M by Bonhams
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.
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.
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.
The career of Osman Hamdi 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.
He had learned from his French masters the techniques of realistic figuration that are based on photographs. 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 Hamdi 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.
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.
The career of Osman Hamdi 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.
He had learned from his French masters the techniques of realistic figuration that are based on photographs. 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 Hamdi 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
