06 Orientalist Paintings by Artists from the 19th Century, with footnotes, 13

Orientalism is a term that is used for the depiction of aspects in Middle Eastern cultures. It refers to the works of the Western artists on Oriental subjects, produced from their travels in Western Asia, during the 19th century. Depictions of Islamic "Moors" and "Turks" can be found in Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque art. A creative apprehension of a completely different world with its own laws, customs, special attitude towards life and death, love, feelings, and beauty. Wikipedia/Yana Naumovna Lukashevskaya

Rudolf Ernst, 1854 - 1932, AUSTRIAN

THE ARMS MERCHANT

Oil on panel

61 by 49cm., 24 by 19¼in

Private Collection

Rudolf Ernst’s The Arms Merchant focuses on all manner of closely observed weaponry, from the yataghan sword being inspected by the prospective customer, to the ivory-hilted kard (dagger), curved shamshir (sword), and Caucasian flintlock pistol on display on the floor. 

Rudolf Ernst, 1854 - 1932, AUSTRIAN

THE ARMS MERCHANT

Detail

Nearby, the merchant’s hookah pipe rests against the folds of the rug. The composition perfectly captures a Middle Eastern side street, the merchant’s canopy adorned with decorative ostrich egg pendants. Painted when Ernst was thirty-one, the present work is among the artist’s early Orientalist works, inspired by his recent travels to Egypt. Almost all his paintings were executed in his studio in Paris, which he decorated in an Eastern style and filled with the sketches and props he accumulated on his travels. More ARMS MERCHANT

Rudolf Ernst, 1854 - 1932, AUSTRIAN

THE ARMS MERCHANT

Detail

RUDOLF WEISSE(USTI (AUSSIG), BOHEMIA1869 - PARIS1930) was born in Usti (Aussig), Bohemia, a town on the banks of the Elbe. He studied at the Viennese Akademie der Bildenden Künste. He exhibited at the Salon in Paris between 1889 and 1927 and also showed paintings in Vienna, London, Bordeaux and Toulon. 

Weisse specialized in portraits and Orientalist views, chiefly street scenes in Cairo, which he must have visited. He was influenced by the colourful, meticulous and realistic genre scenes of the Viennese painters Ludwig Deutsch (1855-1935) and Rudolf Ernst (1854-1932). In 1889 Weiss was awarded a Médaille d’Honneur at the Parisian Exposition Universelle for Après la guerre – scène orientale and a Portrait de femme. He won a gold medal in Vienna in 1920. 

The work of Rudolf Weisse is represented in the Najd Collection. More Rudolf Ernst

Josep Tapiró Baró, 1836 - 1913, SPANISH

THE YOUNG RECRUITS

Watercolour and gouache

49.5 by 70cm., 19½ by 27½in.

Private Collection

Depicting a group of young boys playing city guards on the ramparts of the city fortifications built around the Medina of Tangiers by Pasha Er Riffi, The Young Recruits displays Tapiró's love of detailed, ethnographic observation, as well as his technical accomplishment in his chosen medium. More YOUNG RECRUITS

Josep Tapiró i Baró (17 February 1836, Reus - 4 October 1913, Tangier) was a Catalonian painter; best known for his watercolor portraits from Morocco. His first formal studies were in 1849 with Domènec Soberano, a local wine merchant and amateur painter. In 1853, he was given the opportunity to exhibit at a showing held by the Casino de Reus.

Later that year, he enrolled at the Escola de la Llotja. At this time, he produced mostly historical and religious scenes. In 1857 Tapiró moved to Madrid, where he enrolled at the "Escuela Superior de Pintura y Grabado", a branch of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando. He returned to Barcelona in 1860 and assisted with decorating the façade at the Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya.

Josep Tapiró, (1836 - 1913)

Berber Bride, circa 1896

Watercolour on paper

Height: 688 mm (27.09 in). Width: 476 mm (18.74 in).

Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya

In 1862, he joined his friend, Fortuny, in Rome and was introduced to his circle of artistic acquaintances. They also visited Naples and Florence. While there, he took evening classes to learn how to paint watercolors and his works began to focus more on genre themes. These works became very popular and established his reputation.

In 1871 he took a trip to Tangier. This would prove decisive for his career. In 1873, he held his first showing of Orientalist paintings at the "International Art Circle of Rome".

His memories of Tangier led him to join a diplomatic mission on its way to meet with Sultan Hassan I in 1876. Once there, he moved into a newly-built home near the medina quarter. He would live in Tangier for the rest of his life.

His health problems eventually led to his death in 1913. More Josep Tapiró i Baró 

Eugène Verdyen, 1836 - 1903, BELGIAN

A LADY OF SMYRNA

Oil on canvas

65 by 80cm., 25½ by 31½in.

Private Collection

Smyrna was an Ancient Greek city located at a central and strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. This place is known today as İzmir, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prominence. More Smyrna

Eugène Verdyen lived from 1836 to 1903.  Born in Liège, Eugène Verdyen studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels, where he worked as a professor later.  Verdyen went on study trips to Italy, North Africa and Turkey.  His favorite depictions were landscapes and portraits.  In addition, he painted numerous genre scenes. More Eugène Verdyen

Georges Washington, 1827 - 1910, FRENCH

CROSSING THE FORD

Oil on canvas

55.5 by 81cm., 22 by 32in

Private Collection

George Washington, born 15 September 1827 in Marseille and died November 19, 1901 in Douarnenez, was a French Orientalist painter. Like most aspiring artists, the young Georges Washington moved to Paris, where he trained at the Ecole des Beaux Arts under François-Edouard Picot (1786-1868). The artist’s exotic style was also indebted to Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863). Washington’s art conveys a similar feeling to the work of Eugène Fromentin (1820-76) who often painted naturalistic Middle Eastern scenes of rural and nomadic life. Washington’s love of the Middle East and its customs was further enhanced and encouraged by his father-in-law, the military and Orientalist painter Henri-Félix-Emmanuel Philippoteaux (1815-1884), whose daughter Anne-Léonie Philippoteaux married Washington in Paris on 6th August 1859.

Georges Washington (French 1827-1910)

The Skirmish

Oil on canvas

23.5″ x 19.75″

Private Collection

Not long after finishing his training at the Ecole des Beaux Arts, Washington embarked on the first of a number of trips to Algeria and based on close observation of its inhabitants, their dress and customs in 1857 he made his Paris debut at the Salon des Artistes Français with a view of nomads titled Plaine du Hoiina (Sahara Algérien). From then up until 1901 Washington continued to be a popular exhibitor at the Salon; one of his first works shown there to gain critical acclaim was Nomades dans le Sahara en Hiver. In addition to Paris, Washington also showed his work in Moscow in 1881 and was later posthumously honoured when four of his paintings were included in the Exposition Coloniale de Marseille in 1906.

Following two commissions from a Belgian company, he travelled to Morocco and then subsequently visited Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey, which were to inspire his varied subjects including battle scenes and cavalry skirmishes. His travels also took him to America for the unveiling in Philadelphia of a cyclorama (a monumental 360° panoramic view) of the Battle of Gettysburg by his brother-in-law Paul-Dominique Philippoteaux (1846-1923).

Following the death of his wife he retired to live with his daughter and son-in-law at Douarnenez on the Brittany coast, where he died shortly after on 19th November 1901. More George Washington

Acknowledgement: Sotheby's, 

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