05 Paintings by the Orientalist Artists in the Nineteenth-Century, with footnotes, 12

Adolf Schreyer, 1828 - 1899, GERMAN

ARAB HORSEMAN

Oil on canvas

82.5 by 68cm., 32½ by 26¾in.

Private collection

Adolf Schreyer (July 9, 1828 Frankfurt-am-Main – July 29, 1899 Kronberg im Taunus) was a German painter, associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting. He studied art, first at the Städel Institute in his native town, and then at Stuttgart and Munich. He painted many of his favourite subjects in his travels in the East. He first accompanied Maximilian Karl, 6th Prince of Thurn and Taxis through Hungary, Wallachia, Russia and Turkey; then, in 1854, he followed the Austrian army across the Wallachian frontier. In 1856 he went to Egypt and Syria, and in 1861 to Algiers. In 1862 he settled in Paris, but returned to Germany in 1870; and settled at Cronberg near Frankfurt, where he died.

Schreyer was, and is still, especially esteemed as a painter of horses, of peasant life in Wallachia and Moldavia, and of battle incidents. His work is remarkable for its excellent equine draughtsmanship, and for the artist's power of observation and forceful statement; and has found particular favour among French and American collectors. Of his battle-pictures there are two at the Schwerin Gallery, and others in the collection of Count Mensdorff-Pouilly and in the Raven Gallery, Berlin.  More on Adolf Schreyer

Charles Landelle, 1821 - 1908, FRENCH

L'ORIENTALE

Oil on canvas

55.5 by 38.5cm., 22 by 15in.

Private collection

Zacharie Charles Landelle, born on 2 June 1821 In Laval, the October 13 , 1908 In Chennevières-sur-Marne, is a French painter and portraitist. Born to a modest family. In 1857 he married Alice Letronne, daughter of the general of the guard Jean-Antoine Letronne who saved the National Archives in 1848 . Two sons, Georges and Paul, were born of this union, all of whom died during the lifetime of their father.

He followed his father  to Paris 1827. He only return to his hometown only at the end of his life.

He developed a talent and a very solid craft at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris where he was admitted in 1837 as a pupil of Paul Delaroche and Ary Scheffer . At the beginning of his career, he painted several portraits to support himself. Influenced by Italian paintings after traveling in the South of France and Italy, he made copies of some of the paintings by the great masters of the Renaissance at the Louvre.

His portraits and large religious paintings were instantly successful, and allowed him to gain the recognition of the high society of the nineteenth century. Napoleon III admired him very much, bought from him the two canvases of the Beatitudes ( 1852 ) to offer them to the city of Laval. He received numerous state commissions.

From his travels in North Africa and the Middle East in the 1860s , he created works that were often very successful. His first voyage to Morocco dates from 1866. In 1866 he painted Femme Fellah, which earned him the nickname of a painter of the fellahs , a work purchased by the Emperor for his personal collection, but destroyed in the fire at the Château de Saint-Cloud in 1870. A replica, executed By Charles Landelle, is preserved in the museum of the Old Castle of Laval.

In 1875 , he is in Egypt, and travels the Nile with the explorer Mariette . He travelled each year to the East, or Algeria and returned with paintings. At the end of his life, Charles Landelle encouraged the creation in Laval of a museum of painting which he inaugurated in 1895, at the height of his glory, alongside the President of the Republic : it is the current Science Museum. More on Zacharie Charles Landelle

Frederick Arthur Bridgman, 1847 - 1928, AMERICAN
HALT IN THE DESERT
Oil on panel
18.5 by 23.5cm., 7¼ by 9¼in.
Private collection

Frederick Arthur Bridgman (November 10, 1847 - 1928) was an American artist, born in Tuskegee, Alabama. The son of a physician, Bridgman would become one of the United States' most well-known and well-regarded painters and become known as one of the world's most talented "Orientalist" painters. He began as a draughtsman in New York City, for the American Bank Note Company in 1864-1865, and studied art in the same years at the Brooklyn Art Association and at the National Academy of Design; but he went to Paris in 1866 and became a pupil of Jean-Leon Gerome. Paris then became his headquarters. A trip to Egypt in 1873-1874 resulted in pictures of the East that attracted immediate attention, and his large and important composition, The Funeral Procession of a Mummy on the Nile, in the Paris Salon (1877), bought by James Gordon Bennett, brought him the Cross of the Legion of Honor. Other paintings by him were An American Circus in Normandy, Procession of the Bull Apis (now in the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.), and a Rumanian Lady (in the Temple collection, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). More on Frederick Arthur Bridgman

Blas Olleros Y Quintana (Spanish, 1851–1919)

THE PERSIAN BATH

Oil on canvas

123.5 by 92cm., 48¾ by 36¼in

Private collection

Blas Olleros y Quintana was a Spanish visual artist who was born in 1852. Many works by the artist have been sold at auction, including 'In a Persian Bath' (above)sold at Sotheby's London 'European Paintings' in 2012. More on Blas Olleros y Quintana

Emile Cambiaggio, 1857 - 1930, ITALIAN

UNE CHARMEUSE, The charmer

Oil on canvas

141 by 204cm., 55½ by 80in.

Private collection

Emile Cambiaggio, 1857 - 1930, ITALIAN was a French visual artist who was born in 1857. Several works by the artist have been sold at auction, including 'Une charmeuse' (above)sold at Christie's London '19th Century European Art' in 2003. More on Emile Cambiaggio

Please visit my other blogs: Art Collector, Mythology, Marine Art, Portrait of a Lady, The Orientalist, Art of the Nude and The Canals of Venice, Middle East Artists, 365 Saints and 365 Days, also visit my Boards on Pinterest

Images are copyright of their respective owners, assignees or others. Some Images may be subject to copyright

I don't own any of these images - credit is always given when due unless it is unknown to me. if I post your images without your permission, please tell me.

I do not sell art, art prints, framed posters or reproductions. Ads are shown only to compensate the hosting expenses.

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10 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

Victor Huguet, 1835 - 1902, FRENCH

RIDERS IN A RAVINE 

Oil on canvas

118 by 100cm., 46½ by 39¼in

Private Collection

Huguet's painting befits the monumental ravine landscape it depicts: sheer cliffs frame a deep ravine through which a wadi meanders, serving as watering place for a group of Bedouin riders crossing a vast landscape. More on this painting

Victor Pierre Huguet , born Lude the 1 st May 1835 and died in Paris August 16, 1902, was a French, landscape and genre painter.. He was a pupil of Emile Loubon in Marseille and received advice from Fromentin in Paris.

In 1852, aged 17, he traveled to Egypt, then to Crimea where he accompanied Durand-Brager before the siege of Sebastopol. He was profoundly influenced by the landscapes he passes through and that will influence his inspiration to Orientalism, where he soon made a name. Discovering Algeria a few years later, he drew from many sources of inspiration.

He exhibited at the Salons de Marseille and Paris in 1859 and the Salon of French Orientalist Painters at its inception in 1893. He was the leading Orientalist artists of Provence. More Victor Pierre Huguet

Adolf Schreyer, 1828 - 1899, GERMAN

RESTING CAVALIERS

Oil on canvas

81 by 129cm., 32 by 50¾in.

Private Collection

Adolf Schreyer (July 9, 1828 Frankfurt-am-Main – July 29, 1899 Kronberg im Taunus) was a German painter, associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting. He studied art, first at the Städel Institute in his native town, and then at Stuttgart and Munich. He painted many of his favourite subjects in his travels in the East. He first accompanied Maximilian Karl, 6th Prince of Thurn and Taxis through Hungary, Wallachia, Russia and Turkey; then, in 1854, he followed the Austrian army across the Wallachian frontier. In 1856 he went to Egypt and Syria, and in 1861 to Algiers. In 1862 he settled in Paris, but returned to Germany in 1870; and settled at Cronberg near Frankfurt, where he died.

Schreyer was, and is still, especially esteemed as a painter of horses, of peasant life in Wallachia and Moldavia, and of battle incidents. His work is remarkable for its excellent equine draughtsmanship, and for the artist's power of observation and forceful statement; and has found particular favour among French and American collectors. Of his battle-pictures there are two at the Schwerin Gallery, and others in the collection of Count Mensdorff-Pouilly and in the Raven Gallery, Berlin. More Adolf Schreyer

 

Adolf Schreyer, 1828-1899, GERMAN

THE ADVANCE

Oil on canvas

86 by 116cm., 33¾ by 45½in.

Private Collection

Jean Lecomte du Nouÿ, 1842 - 1923, FRENCH

THE SENTINEL

Oil on canvas

38.5 by 30cm., 15 by 12in

Private Collection

The sentinel's Ottoman weapons are observed so faithfully that the artist must have seen them in the original, from the chibouk (Turkish tobacco pipe) with its gilt tophane bowl and mouthpiece and lavender enamelled shaft; to the curved shamshir sword with its horn hilt; and the flintlock rifle with its ivory butt plate. More on the sentinel

Jean-Jules-Antoine Lecomte du Nouÿ (10 June 1842 in Paris – 19 February 1923 in Paris) was an Orientalist French painter and sculptor. He was strongly influenced by the works and teachings of Charles Gleyre and Jean-Léon Gérôme. Lecomte du Nouÿ found inspiration for his art through extensive travels to Greece, Turkey, Egypt and Italy. The thematic content of Lecomte du Nouÿ’s work was mainly figural, but also spanned over a vast range of imagery throughout his career, including classical, historical and religious.

Lecomte is known for remaining faithful to his detailed, realistic style throughout the extent of his career, despite the onset of the Impressionist, Fauvist and Constructivist artistic movements during his lifetime. His work is said to have contributed significantly to the establishment of an iconic repertoire representing the Orient in the nineteenth century. A Parisian street was named after him in 1932. More Jean-Jules-Antoine Lecomte du Nouÿ

Rudolf Ernst, 1854-1932, AUSTRIAN

THE FORTUNE TELLER, CAIRO

Oil on panel

73 by 58.5cm., 28¾ by 23in.

Private Collection

In this setting Ernst has taken inspiration from the portal of the Sultan Hasan Mosque in Cairo, regarded as the greatest mosque of the medieval Islamic world. Commissioned by Sultan al-Nasir Hasan, construction began in 1356. 

Ernst depicts a side gate to the mosque, with its great copper doors and niche with muqarnas decoration, in whose entrance a fortune teller or sufi mystic dispenses his wisdom to a man wearing a Turco-Egyptian hat known as a tarboosh. Men queue up in their dozens in the the blazing afternoon heat to await their turn to be blessed or enlightened. More the fortune teller

Rudolf Ernst (14 February 1854, Vienna - 1932, Fontenay-aux-Roses) was an Austro-French painter, printmaker and ceramics painter who is best known for his orientalist motifs. He exhibited in Paris under the name "Rodolphe Ernst".

He was the son of an architect and, encouraged by his father, began studies at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna at the age of fifteen. He spent some time in Rome, copying the old masters, and continued his lessons in Vienna with August Eisenmenger and Anselm Feuerbach.

In 1876, he settled in Paris. The following year, he participated in his first artists' salon. He later made trips to Spain, Morocco, Egypt and Constantinople to study and document what he saw there.

In 1905, he moved to Fontenay-aux-Roses where he set up a shop to produce faience tiles with orientalist themes. He decorated his home in Ottoman style and lived a reclusive life. His exact date of death was apparently not recorded. More Rudolf Ernst 

Alphons Mielich, 1863 - 1929, AUSTRIAN

THE CARPET SELLER

Oil on panel

61 by 50cm., 24 by 19½in.

Private Collection

Mielich's compositions of Cairene markets, bazaars and cafés offered contemporary audiences an exotic yet faithful view of Egyptian street life. Standing outside a mosque in the Haret el Yahoud district of the city, with the distinctive moon crescent and star motif and decked in wooden ‘alam finials (used as processional standards), three merchants engage in animated negotiation over a group of Moroccan rugs, Rabat, nineteenth-century, and others including kilims folded and stacked in the background. Hanging to the left of the doorway is a silk appliqué panel, Uzbekistan, nineteenth-century, with stylised geometric motifs and an azure blue ground and deep dark brown border. More the merchant

Alphons Leopold Mielich (Klosterneuburg, 27 January 1863 - Salzburg, 25 January 1929) was an Austrian orientalist painter. In 1902, he traveled with the Czech scholar Alois Musil to the Umayyad desert castle Qasr Amra, then in the Ottoman Empire (modern-day Jordan), where he copied some of the paintings discovered there. More Alphons Leopold Mielich

Ludwig Deutsch, 1855-1935, AUSTRIAN

THE PROCESSION OF THE MAHMAL THROUGH THE STREETS OF CAIRO, c. 1909

Oil on canvas

284 by 294cm., 111¾ by 115¾in.

Private Collection

The procession of the title is wonderfully arranged. Foremost is a dervish, someone who follows a Sufi Muslim tariqa or path. These mendicant ascetics are known for their poverty and austerity. The man’s expressive features portray his participating emotion. Behind him follow other members of the religious community, identified by the colour of their turbans: dark green for the Rifa’iya order, red for the Ahmadiya order, and white for the followers of `Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani. With staves in their hands they fan in an arc towards the figure in green, probably a Sufi shaykh and presumably a Sharif, a descendant of the Prophet. This central figure is positioned directly below the Mahmal, the focus of the festive occasion, and a central part in the annual departure and return of the pilgrimage caravan. More Procession of the Mahmal.

Ludwig Deutsch, 1855-1935, was born in Vienna to a well-to-do family. He began studying at the Academy of Fine Arts after completing high school. He studied in the atelier of Alselm Feuerbach along with the painter Rudolf Ernst, his contemporary, who was also an Orientalist and lifelong friend. 

Deutsch decided to move to Paris to continue his studies. Deutsch set up a studio on the Rue Pelletier, and sent a portrait to the Paris Salon in 1879. It was in 1881 that he began painting Orientalist works. He began making paintings that focused on single figures instead of the groups of people that he had been painting before. 

Deutsch traveled to Egypt in 1886 for the first time, resulting in a number of paintings of everyday street scenes. He visited again in 1890, and frequently did so over the next few years. 

Deutsch won the Gold Medal at the Paris Salon in 1900. His work sold well, with buyers being drawn to his incredible attention to detail. He continued painting through the next decade and a half till the outbreak of the First World War, when he was forced to flee Paris. 

Deutsch became a French citizen in around 1919e. Though he was a studio-painter, his travels in Egypt lent color and atmosphere that rendered his paintings authentic. Deutsch continued living and working in Paris till his death in 1935. More Ludwig Deutsch

Ludwig Deutsch

The Della'l, Cairo, 1883

Oil on panel

32.5 by 24.5cm., 12¾ by 9¾in.

Private Collection

A single male figure, silhouetted against an architecturally distinctive door or entrance way.  The man’s ankle-length black-and-white striped woolen abāya identifies him as an itinerant worker in this Egyptian scene; he is probably a della’l, or broker, hired by one of the local shopkeepers.  As the noted nineteenth-century Arabic scholar Edward William Lane (1801-1876) explained, “In many of the nooks of Cairo auctions are held on stated days. They are conducted by delláls, or brokers, hired either by persons who have anything they wish to sell in this manner, or by shopkeepers. The Delláls carry the goods up and down, announcing the sums bidden for them with cries of Harraj, harraj, etc." In Deutsch’s painting, the man gestures emphatically and continues his familiar calls, though he has momentarily set down the eclectic array of goods he has been appointed to vend. More on this painting

Georg Emanuel Opiz, 1775 - 1841, GERMAN

THE ARRIVAL OF THE MAHMAL AT AN OASIS EN ROUTE TO MECCA

Oil on canvas

165.5 by 253cm., 65 by 99½in.

Private Collection

In the foreground a meeting is taking place between a religious leader and an Ottoman official. On the right side of the composition are the Ottoman dignitaries. Mounted on his Arab stallion appears to be an emissary of the Sultan or a governor of the province, behind and beside him are janissaries and soldiers of the Ottoman Court who hold aloft Ottoman flags decorated with the zulfiqar, the sword originally used by the son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammed. To either side of the flags are the distinctive horsetail plumes (Army Dress Helmets) of the Ottoman tughs. Ottoman officials line up on the emissary's left, at the far end of which appears the head courier of the grand vizier.

Paying homage to the Ottoman party is a senior religious leader, dressed in traditional green robes in the style of the grand mufti, his green garb signifying that he has made the pilgrimage before. Behind him is the court imam, and to their right, in the centre of the composition, mounted on the highly decorated camel is the mahmal, the elaborate coffer containing the Koran that accompanies the pilgrims to Mecca. To the left of the camel three dervishes, distinguished by their hair-styles and conical hats, survey the mahmal and dignitaries before them. More THE MAHMAL AT AN OASIS

Georg Emanuel Opiz (born 4 April 1775 in Prague , 12 July 1841 in Leipzig ). He studied in Dresden and later Vienna where he is said to have been a pupil of Francesco Guiseppi Casanova (1727-1803), a painter of battle pieces. In his early years Opiz concentrated his practice around portraiture, and he later became a skilled miniaturist, water colourist, and engraver. From 1807, he specialised in satirical genre scenes, many of them in Paris, where he travelled in 1814 in the retinue of the Duchesse de Courlande. He later worked in Heidelberg and Altenberg, settling in Leipzig in 1820. With his extensive travels around Europe, his subject matter changed to military and genre painting, and included large scale history paintings of military ceremonies in Sweden, Denmark, England and Russia, although few are known to have survived. More Georg Emanuel Opiz

Eugène-Alexis Giradet

Mending, c. 1896

Oil on canvas

18 1/4 by 21 3/4 in., 46.3 by 55.2 cm

Private collection

Eugène Alexis Girardet (31 May 1853, Paris - 5 May 1907, Paris) was a French Orientalist painter, who came from a Swiss Huguenot family. He studied at the École des Beaux-arts and in the studios of Jean-Léon Gérôme, who encouraged him to visit North Africa in 1874.

In all, he made eight trips to Algeria after 1879, especially to the south, around the oases of Biskra, El Kantara and Bou Saâda.  In 1898, he visited Egypt and Palestine, producing many works depicting the lives of desert nomads.

He exhibited regularly at the Salon and with the Société des Peintres Orientalistes Français (of which he was one of the founding members), with major shows at the Exposition Universelle (1900) and the Exposition Coloniale de Marseille of 1906. More Eugène Alexis Girardet 




Acknowledgement: Sotheby's, and others

Please visit my other blogs: Art Collector, Mythology, Marine Art, Portrait of a Lady, The Orientalist, Art of the Nude and The Canals of Venice, Middle East Artists, 365 Saints and 365 Days, also visit my Boards on Pinterest

Images are copyright of their respective owners, assignees or others. Some Images may be subject to copyright

I don't own any of these images - credit is always given when due unless it is unknown to me. if I post your images without your permission, please tell me.

I do not sell art, art prints, framed posters or reproductions. Ads are shown only to compensate the hosting expenses.

If you enjoyed this post, please share with friends and family.

Thank you for visiting my blog and also for liking its posts and pages.

Please note that the content of this post primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online.

12 Paintings, Orientalist Art 3

Léon François Comerre (French 1850-1916)

An oriental beauty holding a pink fan 

signed 'Léon Comerre' (upper left)

oil on canvas

46 3/4 x 30 1/2in (119 x 77.5cm)

Léon François Comerre. Born on October 10, 1850, Comerre grew up in the city of Lille, where he began his formal art training at an early age. In 1868 he moved to Paris and enrolled in the studio of Alexandre Cabanel, who introduced him to exotic orientalist subjects and voluptuous nudes. He quickly distinguished himself as a talented painter and was recognized as a most promising student, thus gaining access to the prestigious Ecole des Beaux-Arts.

Comerre started exhibiting at the Paris Salon in 1871 and won the coveted Prix-de-Rome in 1875. That year marked a turning point in his career, with another gold medal awarded to him by the city of Lille and an additional medal from the Salon for a second painting. The official recognition brought financial rewards for the young painter, and his skills as society portraitist were in high demand.

By the end of 1875, Comerre embarked on a tour of the Lowlands and a four year sojourn in Rome. Upon his return from Rome, Comerre continued to have a successful career, with mural commissions from the city of Paris and Lyon, and an expansion of his client base into the United States. He also exhibited at the Royal Academy, the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, and the Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts. He became a Knight of the Legion of Honour in 1903. 

Like many of his fellow painters, Comerre catered to the Orientalist taste of his contemporaries that was fueled by an all-encompassing European infatuation with the Near East. Although he never traveled beyond Europe, Comerre made use of the most common attributes of Orientalist paintings, such as intricate tile motifs and ornate silver jewelry, which he successfully incorporated into his portrait commissions.

While the sitter of the present painting is unknown, unlike Commere's commissioned portrait paintings, the model, her dress and the tiled wall are motifs employed in a few other of the artist's orientalist-themed paintings. His mastery of the craft is clearly apparent in the delicate treatment of the fan and the intricate wall carvings, as well as the subtle, varied hues of pink that dominate the composition.

Stanislaus von Chlebowski (Polish, 1835-1884)

The prayer 

signed and dated 'A. Chlebowski 1879' (lower right)

oil on panel

17 3/4 x 11 1/2in (45 x 29.5cm)

Stanisław Chlebowski (1835–1884) was a Polish painter with Russian and Turkish connections. He was a renowned specialist in Oriental themes. He was born in Podole, and learned drawing in Grekov Odessa Art school. Between 1853-1859, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, and then on a scholarship for six years in Paris as the pupil of the French Orientalist painter Jean-Léon Gérôme. Chlebowski traveled to Spain, Italy, Germany, and Belgium. His first success was selling his painting Joanne d’Arc in Amiens Prison to Napoleon III of France.

In the years 1864-1876 Chlebowski was master painter for Sultan Abdülaziz and took up residence in Constantinople. During his services, he had obtained permission to bring with him a large icon of Mother of God Leading Our Way having been rescued from the Hodegon Monastery in 1453. He had come across it in one of the magasins with old relics, unheeded by the Ottoman keeper. This account is certified in a letter by the Comité National Polonais à Constantinople, dated June 27, 1938.

In 1876 he moved to Paris. In 1881 he returned permanently to Krakow. The subject matter of his watercolors and oil paintings is diverse. He painted images of historical battles related to the history of Turkey, oriental genre scenes, landscapes, and portraits of sultans. He died near Poznań, in Kowanówko at age 49.

Chlebowski lived abroad for a long time and as a result his paintings were very rare in Poland. The National Museum in Krakow houses some of his other important Orientalist works such as Entrée de Mahomet II à Stamboul. More

Jean-Léon Gérôme

1824 - 1904

FRENCH

PRIÈRE DANS LA MOSQUÉE

signed J. L. GEROME (lower right)

oil on canvas

16 by 13 in.

40.6 by 33 cm

Jean-Léon Gérôme (11 May 1824 – 10 January 1904) was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as Academicism. The range of his oeuvre included historical painting, Greek mythology, Orientalism, portraits and other subjects, bringing the Academic painting tradition to an artistic climax. He is considered one of the most important painters from this academic period, and in addition to being a painter, he was also a teacher with a long list of students. More

Henri Emilien Rousseau (French, 1875-1933)

A caravan at rest 

signed 'Henri Rousseau' and illegibly dated (lower right)

oil on panel

18 1/8 x 21 5/8in (46 x 55cm)

Henri Rousseau Henry said Emilien Rousseau (Cairo 1875 - Aix-en-Provence in 1933) was an orientalist painter. A student of Jean-Léon Gérôme at the Beaux-Arts in Paris, he won the second Grand Prix de Rome in 1900 and a travel grant at the Salon of French Artists. He travels the Belgium , the Netherlands , the North Africa , then to Spain and Italy where he admired the great masters ( Rubens , Rembrandt , Velasquez , Murillo , the Titian , Raphael etc ...)

After this initiatory journey, he settled in Versailles and set up his studio at the Villa des Arts in Paris. In 1919 he moved to Aix en Provence with his large family (seven children). For a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour on the arts, it was a notable of the area. He mainly travelled to Tunisia , the Algeria and especially Morocco. Provence and the Camargue remained his anchors. His success with the middle-class and wealthy clientele is punctuated with numerous exhibitions in Paris, Brussels , Stockholm , Marseille . More

Fabio Fabbi (Italian, 1861-1946)

The new slave girl 

signed 'F. Fabbi' (lower left)

oil on canvas

38 3/4 x 29in (98.5 x 73.5cm)

Fabio Fabbi was born in Bologna, Italy in 1861. As a young man, he enrolled at the Accademia Di Belle Arti in Florence and studied sculpture and painting in the 1880s, winning prizes in both categories. After his studies, he travelled to Paris, Munich, and finally Egypt. Upon his return to Italy, he dedicated himself solely to painting and was honoured with the distinction of professorship at the Accademia.

Fabbi painted prolifically images of odalisques and bazaars which were well-received by the public. His images were commercial for his day, and thus he succeeded in painting more works than many of his contemporaries in Italy. From 1884 onward, Fabbi regularly participated in exhibitions in Turin, Milan and Florence, gaining popularity and laud mostly because his works were colourful and amusing. Although the subject matter was not novel to his audience at this point in time, his impressionist technique and the movement of his figures were quite appealing, as in the present lot. More

Fabio Fabbi (Italian, 1861-1946)
Dancers in the harem 
signed 'F. Fabbi' (lower left)
oil on canvas
90 x 140cm (35 7/16 x 55 1/8in)

Dancers in the Harem, a work most likely inspired by a visit to Cairo, shows the Fabbi's versatility and skill. The backdrop of the room, the carpets and windows are clearly painted with clean lines, articulated and realistic. The dancers, however, are painted with visible brushstrokes, giving the impression that they are moving and dancing to the music. Fabbi's unique ability to mix the two techniques makes the work both interesting and believable. 

The present scene depicts one of Fabbi's favourite themes: Raks Baladi, the popular folk dance of Egypt which is believed to have mothered all Oriental dance. During his trip to Egypt in 1886, Fabbi would have witnessed the skilful women performing Raks Baladi as it was enjoyed at festivals, in the home, and in the living quarters for casual entertainment. The depiction of the dancers is true to what Fabbi would have seen in Cairo. The women don long, simple robes indigenous to Egypt with some ornamentation around the bust and scarves accentuating the hips. This costume differed greatly from region to region in the Middle East, verifying Fabbi's interaction with the Egyptians. 

Fabbio Fabbi (1861-1946)
Slave Auction
Oil On Canvas
40.6 x 70.5 cm, (15.98" x 27.76")

Adolf Schreyer, 1828-1899

GERMAN

THE ADVANCE

signed AD Schreyer

oil on canvas

41 1/2 by 68 in.

105.4 by 173 cm

Adolf Schreyer (July 9, 1828 Frankfurt-am-Main – July 29, 1899 Kronberg im Taunus) was a German painter, associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting. He studied art first at the Städel Institute in his native town, and then at Stuttgart and Munich. He painted many of his favourite subjects in his travels in the East. He first accompanied Maximilian Karl, 6th Prince of Thurn and Taxis through Hungary, Wallachia, Russia and Turkey; then, in 1854, he followed the Austrian army across the Wallachian frontier. In 1856 he went to Egypt and Syria, and in 1861 to Algiers. In 1862 he settled in Paris, but returned to Germany in 1870; and settled at Cronberg near Frankfurt, where he died.

Schreyer was, and is still, especially esteemed as a painter of horses, of peasant life in Wallachia and Moldavia, and of battle incidents. His work is remarkable for its excellent equine draughtsmanship, and for the artist's power of observation and forceful statement; and has found particular favour among French and American collectors. Of his battle-pictures there are two at the Schwerin Gallery, and others in the collection of Count Mensdorff-Pouilly and in the Raven Gallery, Berlin. His painting of a Charge of Artillery of Imperial Guard was formerly at the Luxembourg Museum. The Metropolitan Museum, New York owns three of Schreyer's oriental paintings: Abandoned, Arabs on the March and Arabs making a detour; and many of his best pictures are in the Rockefeller family, Vanderbilt family, John Jacob Astor, William Backhouse Astor, Sr., August Belmont, and William Walters collections. At the Kunsthalle in Hamburg is his Wallachian Transport Train, and at the Staedel Institute, Frankfort, are two of his Wallachian scenes. More

Edwin Lord Weeks, 1849 - 1903

AMERICAN

FIGURES IN AN INTERIOR WITH GARDEN OF PALMS BEYOND

signed E.L. Weeks (lower right)

oil on canvas

32 by 39 1/2 in.

81.3 by 100.3 cm

After years of travel through Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and India, the American artist Edwin Lord Weeks remained captivated by the sights he encountered abroad and towards the end of his career he began an ambitious series of paintings based on A Thousand and One Nights. From this series, he exhibited Man Waking from Sleep in 1898 and L’histoire de Noureddin et la belle Persane a year later at the Paris Salon of 1899. A series of four paintings of The Porter of Baghdad were sold in the artist’s estate sale of 1905 (one of which was shown at the Paris Salon of 1901). Given the scale and subject, the present painting is almost certainly one from this series, although, like lot xx, it has remained undocumented until now.

In Figures in an Interior with Garden of Palms Beyond, Weeks presents an interesting combination of imagery. Weeks documented his travels through sketches, paintings and photographs, which provided source material for the present scene. Additionally, architectural elements reminiscent of Weeks’ Indian paintings of the 1880s and 1890s now reappear as the background and decorative elements. 

Two figures sit in a sheltered, sun-dappled courtyard overlooking a lush forest of swaying palms, Weeks is careful to render the architecture of the scene, complete with its delicately carved stone latticework, as well as the costumes of the two figures. The lounging girl is swathed in elaborately embroidered sheer red silks, reminiscent of the Nautch dancing girls which Weeks had painted in India  More

Edwin Lord Weeks

The Doctor's Visit (from A Thousand and One Night series) (1903) 

Edwin Lord Weeks exhibited Man Waking from Sleep in 1898, at the Paris Exposition of that year, and L'histoire de Noureddin et la belle Persane, a year later at the Paris Salon of 1899. A series of four paintings of The Porter of Bagdad were sold in the artist's estate sale of 1905; Number 3 of that series was shown at the Paris Salon of 1901. The present painting, The Doctor's Visit, bears a label in Weeks' own hand, sending it to the Universal Exposition in St. Louis in 1904. Weeks, like most artists, sent only recent paintings to major exhibitions, thus enabling us to date The Doctor's Visit to circa 1903, the year of his untimely death.

The Doctor's Visit achieved the highest price among the "1001 Nights" paintings at the artist's estate sale of 1905. Curiously, The Doctor's Visit exploits an interesting combination of imagery, visually rooted in India and Persia to recount a story rooted in Arabic literature. In this work, Weeks has extracted architectural elements from his Indian paintings of the 1880s and 1890s and recombined them into a fantasy of form and pattern as a setting for the Doctor to visit his patient lying upon a marble plinth in the shadow of early morning sunshine. The setting overlooks the azure Lake of Udaipur, India; in the distance are the semi-arid purple hills surrounding the Lake and Palace of Udaipur. Weeks has fashioned an imagined portion of this famed island palace as the open-air lounging spot of bright white marble for his Princess, who lies upon the cushions for her back and the stone for her outstretched legs.

She rests, seductively, in airy white silk halter and gown, accented in gold, falling around her thighs and lower legs to form a mound of ripples in front of her. Her gold tiara and multi-stranded necklace frame her youthful face with wide, dark eyes, slight smile and long, raven hair: her features all tell of Persian ancestry, as do those of the Doctor. Yet the Doctor's costume of embroidered peach-colored silk, tight about the torso and flaring wide–almost to the floor–is purely Indian in style. The gorgeous shimmer of the material has a coarse, dark seam starting at the waist and ending just above the curious upturned toe of his shoes. In its backlit beauty, this fabulously-rendered robe appears royal in nature. The entire costume, from head to foot, begins a dialogue with the form and pattern of the slim, marble column to the left. Weeks has used both elements, figure and column lit in sunshine, to frame the space occupied by the lounging princess. The narrative of The Doctor's Visit is contained within these two beautifully-designed elements by this extremely skillful painter at the end of his career. More

Edwin Lord Weeks

Moorish Girl Lying On A Couch, Rabat, Morocco

Oil on Board

Material: board

48.2 x 72.4 cm

Private Collection

Edwin Lord Weeks (American, 1849–1903)
Nautch girl resting , ca. 1895–1900
Oil on canvas
91.4 x 154 cm. (36 x 60.6 in.)

In North India, Nautch is one of several styles of popular dance, performed by girls known as Nautch girls. 

Acknowledgement: Bonhams, Sothebys,