Saturday, December 3, 2016

26 Paintings by the Orientalist Artists of the Nineteenth-Century, with footnotes #8

Theodoros Ralli, 1852-1909, GREEK
ODALISQUE
Oil on canvas
48 by 37cm., 18¾ by 14½in.
Private Collection

Sold for 81,250 GBP in Dec 2016

The girl in the present work wears an ornate Ottoman gold coin headdress with a fringe of star-shaped amulets, and a matching necklace. With her white diaphanous veil and dress, and hair braided into a bun, she is dressed for a special occasion or celebration, possibly her own wedding. The cropped composition and punctilious draughtsmanship of the present work suggest the influence of photography so evident in Gérôme's work also.

Born in Constantinople of Greek descent, Ralli's precocious talent came to the attention of King Otto of Greece, under whose patronage he was able to travel to Paris to enrol at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts under the tutelage of Gerome. He made his debut at the Paris Salon in 1875, and in 1900 was appointed to the jury of the Exposition Universelle. More on this painting

Théodore Jacques Ralli or Theodorus Rallis (Constantinople, 16 February 1852 – 2 October 1909, Lausanne) was a Greek painter, watercolourist and draughtsman, who spent most of his working life in Paris, France and in Egypt.

He painted genre works, portraits, local figures, architectural subjects, interiors with figures and animals. But he is best known for his orientalist paintings.

He was sent to Paris under the patronage of King Otto of Greece and studied under Jean-Léon Gérôme, and Jean-Jules-Antoine Lecomte du Nouy, both known for their orientalist paintings.

Théodore-Jacques Ralli, ISTANBUL 1852 - 1909 LAUSANNE
YOUNG WOMAN AT THE BATH
OIL ON CANVAS
55,3 x 33,4 cm ; 21 3/4 by 13 1/4 in
Private Collection

Sold for  66.750 EUR in Oct 2012

Ralli's was favorite theme was the presentation of oriental women bathing. These topics became the pretext for the unveiling of the female body, often in lascivious and sensual poses. the above work represents a young woman in an oriental setting, leaning over a basin. The view provides access to the daily intimacy of the bather. The artist plays with the contrasts of light to highlight the purity of the body, and the milky softness of the skin. The attention to details, like the Arabic script or fine water spray of the fountain, enhances beauty and credibility. As usual, Ralli chooses to paint a moment in suspense, the same moment of hesitation for the young woman: will she enter the water or simply return to lie down on the bench that lies behind it ?

Ralli then travelled widely in North Africa and the Middle East, settling for a while in Cairo, Egypt. Here he found his inspiration for the romantic mysticism and suggestive sensuality of his many orientalistic paintings. His other genre paintings were often nostalgic recollections of the life and customs of his Greek homeland, which he portrayed with a delicate and moving reverence. His paintings were elaborated with great attention to detail, with great attention to costumes and facial expressions.

Rallis first exhibition was at the Salon in 1875. From 1879 he regularly exhibited at the Royal Academy in London. He was a member of the Société des Artistes Français, where he received an honourable mention in 1885, and a silver medal in 1889 for his whole work 

After his death he was slowly almost forgotten. It is telling that his name is not even included in the Grove Dictionary of Art. Most of his paintings are still in private collections. Only a few museums ever purchased his works. More on Théodore-Jacques

GIUSEPPE GABANI, (italian 1846-1899)
A PAUSE AT THE WELL
Watercolor on paper 
19 1/2 x 26 1/4 in. (49.3 x 66.7cm) 
Private Collection

Estimated at $2,000 - $3,000 in Jun. 2016

GIUSEPPE GABANI, (italian 1846-1899). Born in Senigallia, Gabani studied first with Cesare Maccari and Giuseppe Raggio and then specialized mainly in history paintings, as well as landscapes, animals and particularly horses. He is also known for his Orientalist subjects, the majority of which include equine subjects. Between 1866 and 1870 Gabani served with the IV Cavalry. In 1866, he came to the public's attention with his painting Count Baratieri at the head of his regiment, 24 June 1866. In 1880, he was invited by Brugnoli to paint part of a mural for ceiling of the Teatro Costanzi (now the Teatro dell'Opera) in Rome. He received considerable acclaim for his painting Cavalli nella campagna, exhibited in Berlin in 1880 and in 1884 his large-scale history painting Carica del Genova Cavalleria was very well received in Turin. He also exhibited in Venice. At the exhibition in Melbourne he was given the silver medal. He died in Rome on 12 October 1900. More on GIUSEPPE GABANI

Vasily Alexandrovich Kotarbinsky, (1849-1921) – Polish-Russian 
Sermon at Capernaum, 19th C
Oil on canvas
78.5 x 120.3 cm
Private Collection

Estimate at 90,000 – 117,000 EUR in April 2016

Capernaum (Kfar Nahum, "Nahum's village") was a fishing village established during the time of the Hasmoneans, located on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. It had a population of about 1,500. Archaeological excavations have revealed two ancient synagogues built one over the other. A house turned into a church by the Byzantines is said to be the home of Saint Peter.

The village was inhabited continuously from the 2nd century BCE to the 11th century CE, when it was abandoned sometime before the Crusader conquest. This includes the re-establishment of the village during the Early Islamic period soon after the 749 earthquake. More on Capernaum

Vasily Alexandrovich Kotarbinsky (1849-1921) was a Polish painter of the 19th and early 20th century. Kotarbinsky started his artistical career at the Warsaw School of Drawing in the 1870s, later he studied at the art academy in St. Petersburg. Very important for his development were several longer stays in Rome, which had a deep impact on his way of painting and his choice of subjects. He borrowed money from his family for his first trip to Rome during his education and stayed there for three years. Characteristic for his oeuvre are the depictions of biblical subjects as well as classical Roman themes and fantastic-mythical images. One of his main works are the frescos in the St. Vladimir Cathedral in Kiev. Works of the artist are in collections in St. Petersburg and Moscow. More on Vasily Alexandrovich Kotarbinsky

Vasily Alexandrovich Kotarbinsky, (1849-1921) – Polish-Russian 
Sermon at Capernaum, 19th C
Detail

BERNARD UHLE, (german/american 1847-1930) 
PORTRAIT OF A MOOR 
Oil on canvas 
46 x 34 3/4 in. (116.8 x 88.2cm) 
Private Collection

Uhle, Albrecht Bernhard (1847-1930) – Born in Chemnitz, Germany, Bernhard Uhle came to the Unite States in 1851. At the age of fifteen he entered the Pennsylvania Academy. Uhle worked as a photographer from 1867 to 1875. In 1875 he returned to Germany to study with the history painter Franz Xaver Barth and the genre artist Alexander Wagner. In 1877 Uhle returned to Philadelphia and set up a studio as a portrait painter and gained the reputation of being one of the city’s outstanding portraitists. Also an etcher, he joined the Philadelphia Society of Etchers in 1880. He was on the faculty at the Pennsylvania Academy from 1886 to 1890 and took over the portrait class once run by Thomas Eakins. Uhle was a member of the Sketch Club from 1889 to 1897. More on Uhle, Albrecht Bernhard

CIRCLE OF RUDOLF WEISS (1869), AUSTRIAN
MELODY FOR A HAREM GIRL BY THE SEA
Oil on canvas
21.5" x 15" — 54.6 x 38.1 cm.
Private Collection

Sold for CAD 9,600 in December 2016

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 on RUDOLF WEISSE

Germain Fabius Brest
A TURKISH MARKET
OIL ON CANVAS
38 by 67cm., 15 by 26½in
Private Collection

Estimated at  £40,000 - £60,000 in Apr. 2016

Fabius Brest (31 July 1823 in Marseille and died in the same city 5 November 1900) was a French orientalist painter.

Fabius Brest was the student painters Émile Loubon of Marseille , and Constant Troyon in Paris . On the advice of Loubon, who had made a trip to Palestine which had deeply affected him, Fabius took a trip to Turkey from 1855 to 1859. He returned with many paintings of landscapes. The Eastern, and especially oriental, architecture remained the main sources of inspiration throughout his life. More on Fabius Brest

Ernest Buttura, (1841 - 1920)
Paysage de Turquie
OIL ON CANVAS
44 x 55 cm
Private Collection

Ernest Buttura , born 28 November 1841 in Paris and died in that city in 1920, was a French painter. He entered the School of Fine Arts in 1861 and exhibited regularly at the Salon from 1863. He divided his time between Paris and Cannes.

Siagne, the plain of Laval and the mountains of the Var inspired his work. In Cannes he had a workshop and was an iconic painter of this city. Even thouigh the majority of his paintings were landscapes, he also made studies of rocks and undergrowth, animal paintings, still lifes, bouquets of flowers, and oriental compositions. More on Ernest Buttura,

ADOLF SCHREYER (GERMAN, 1828-1899)
Arab Caravan, c. 1860
Oil on canvas
Dayton Art Institute,  Dayton, Ohio

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 

Henri-Emilien Rousseau
A caravan at rest
Oil on panel
18 1/8 x 21 5/8in (46 x 55cm)
Private Collection

Estimated at US$50,000 - US$70,000 in November 2014

Henri Rousseau, Henry Emilien Rousseau (Cairo 1875 - Aix-en-Provence in 1933) is an Orientalist painter. A pupil 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 traveled to Belgium, the Netherlands, North Africa, 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 in Provence with his large family (seven children). Knight of the Legion of Honour in arts. His work  is dedicated to Tunisia, Algeria and especially Morocco, Provence and the Camargue remained its anchor points. His success was with a bourgeois and wealthy clientele, where he sold his work at numerous exhibitions in Paris, Brussels, Stockholm, Marseilles. More on Henri-Emilien Rousseau

ADOLF SCHREYER (GERMAN, 1828-1899)
Bedouins taking aim
Oil on panel
21 1/4 x 29in (54 x 73.8cm)
Private Collection

Sold for US$87,500 in November 2014

ADOLF SCHREYER (GERMAN, 1828-1899), see above

Eugène Giraud, 1806 - 1881, FRENCH
JEUNE LAVANDIÈRE, c. 1814
Oil on canvas
94 by 55.5cm., 37 by 22in.
Private Collection

Sold for €27,426.00 in May 2015

Eugène Giraud (* 9. August 1806 in Paris ; † 28. December 1881 ) was a French painter and engraver , caricaturist , lithographer and set designer. Giraud was a pupil of the engraver Théodore Richomme and the painter Louis Hersent and received in 1826 the Grand Prix de Rome, for a copper engraving .

After his return from Italy , he undertook in 1846, on the occasion of the wedding of the Duke of Montpensier with the Infanta of Spain, together with the writer Adolphe Desbarolles left to Madrid . There, the two artists met Alexandre Dumas and Dumas son with whom they travel via Cádiz continuíng to North Africa. The travel experiences inspired Giraud with numerous scenes, including the people's life, and the illustrations of Alexandre Dumas the Elder.

Both King Louis Philippe and Emperor Napoléon III. Giraud favored him with orders for the galleries of the Musée Historique in Versailles Palace. 

Eugène Giraud died in 1881 at the age of 75 years in Paris. More on Eugène Giraud

José Gallegos, 1859-1917, SPANISH
IN THE HAREM, c. 1884
Oil on canvas 
340 by 510cm., 133¾ by 200¾in.
Private Collection

Sold for 68,750 GBP in December 2015

José Gallegos, 1859-1917, SPANISH, spent most of his life in Italy and was a leading figure of the Spanish School in Rome, along with Mariano Fortuny y Carbo (1838-1874), José Villegas y Cordero (1848-1922) and Salvador Sanchez Barbudo (1857-1917). Cathedral interiors, choir scenes and religious festivals were among his favourite subjects; he also painted outdoor market scenes. He was a great admirer of nature and excelled in painting trees and flowers, always with the emphasis on colour and light. More on José Gallegos

George Lawrence Bulleid, (1858 - 1933)
Awakened
Watercolor on paper laid down on card
24 x 38in (61 x 96.5cm)
Private Collection

Sold for US$16,875 in November 2015

George Lawrence Bulleid, (1858 - 1933) is best known as a painter of highly finished oil paintings and watercolours of subjects from classical antiquity, in the manner of Lawrence Alma-Tadema and Albert Moore. He also painted mythological subjects, floral still lives and portraits. Bulleid worked mainly in watercolour, and exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy, the Royal Watercolour Society, of which he was elected an associate member in 1889, and the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours. As Christopher Wood has written of Bulleid, ‘Although his range of subjects is narrow, consisting almost entirely of female figures in classical settings, the intense clarity of his vision, combined with an astonishing level of technical accomplishment, mark him out as much more than just another Alma-Tadema follower. More on George Lawrence Bulleid

Fabio Fabbi
The new slave girl
Oil on Canvas
38 3/4 x 29in (98.5 x 73.5cm)
Private Collection

Estimated for US$12,000 - US$18,000 in November 2016 

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 Egypt, which was the inspiration for his Orientalist subjects. 

Upon his return to Italy, he dedicated himself solely to painting and was honoured with the distinction of professorship at the Accademia.

Fabbi's depictions of odalisques and bazaars which were well-received by the public, and his output was prolific. From 1884 onward, Fabbi regularly contributed to exhibitions in Turin, Milan and Florence. More on Fabio Fabbi 

Edwin Lord Weeks
A View of Jerusalem
Oil on Canvas
39 x 60in.
Private Collection

Estimated for US$300,000 - US$500,000 in May 2014

A view of Jerusalem is a dramatic rendition of the setting of the Holy City and one of the most important paintings of Weeks's early career. In a typically panoramic fashion, Weeks shows us Jerusalem all at once, focusing the eye on the Temple Mount, with the lead-covered dome of the Dome of the Rock, surrounded by the intricately detailed city surmounting and crowning the rugged landscape at the crest of the plateau. The scene depicts local Arab men and women encamped under the giant cypress trees, clustered to the middle left of the rocky earthen forms and grassy outcroppings, the animals and desolate brown berms sculpted into irregular hillocks.

It is an ambitious attempt by a young artist to portray the complex interlocked architecture accumulated over thousands of years. More on this painting

Edwin Lord Weeks (1849 – 1903) was an American artist. Weeks was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1849. His parents were affluent spice and tea merchants from Newton, a suburb of Boston, and as such they were able to finance their son's youthful interest in painting and travelling. As a young man Weeks visited the Florida Keys to draw, and also travelled to Surinam in South America. His earliest known paintings date from 1867 when he was eighteen years old, although it is not until his Landscape with Blue Heron, dated 1871 and painted in the Everglades, that Weeks started to exhibit a dexterity of technique and eye for composition—presumably having taken professional tuition.

In 1872 Weeks relocated to Paris, becoming a pupil of Léon Bonnat and Jean-Léon Gérôme. After his studies in Paris, Weeks emerged as one of America's major painters of Orientalist subjects. Throughout his adult life he was an inveterate traveler and journeyed to South America (1869), Egypt and Persia (1870), Morocco (frequently between 1872 and 1878), and India (1882–83).

Weeks died in Paris in November 1903.[2] He was a member of the Légion d'honneur, France, an officer of the Order of St. Michael, Germany, and a member of the Munich Secession. More on Edwin Lord Weeks

Max Friedrich Rabes (German, 1868-1944) 
The scribe
Oil on canvas laid down on board
25 3/4 x 31 3/4 in
Private Collection

Estimated for 12.000 $ - 15.000 $ in June 2014

Max Friedrich Rabes (German, 1868-1944)  Born in Pozna, now Polandwas,  active/lived in Germany, Egypt.  Max Rabes is known for genre, street-landscape painting, stage set design, murals. In 1885, Max Rabes traveled along the Mosel River to study the landscape.  Matthias Engel of Traben-Trarbach/Mosel, Germany met him and was impressed with his talent.  He invited him to his home and also seemed to have provided some financial support.  As a gesture of appreciation, Max Rabes gave him a small water color that is in still in the family's possession. More on Max Friedrich Rabes

He visited the USA, Italy, Spain, Greece, Egypt, Russia and other countried. He became famous as a master of oriental compositions, painted genre scenes, landscapes and portraits. Participant of numerous exhibitions worldwide. He was awarded with the state gold and silver medals of Austria. Member of Munich Art Association and the Association of Berlin Artists. His works are presented in the Art Museums of Berlin, Dessau, Weimar, Munich, Vienna, etc. More on Max Friedrich Rabes

Léon François Comerre
An oriental beauty holding a pink fan
Oil on Canvas
46 3/4 x 30 1/2in (119 x 77.5cm)
Private Collection

Sold for US$62,500 in November 2015

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. More on this painting

Léon François Comerre (10 October 1850 – 20 February 1916) was a French academic painter, famous for his portraits of beautiful women. Comerre was born in Trélon, in the Département du Nord, the son of a schoolteacher. He moved to Lille with his family in 1853. From an early age he showed an interest in art and became a student of Alphonse Colas at the École des Beaux-Arts in Lille, winning a gold medal in 1867. From 1868 a grant from the Département du Nord allowed him to continue his studies in Paris at the famous École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in the studio of Alexandre Cabanel. There he came under the influence of orientalism.

Comerre first exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1871 and went on to win prizes in 1875 and 1881. In 1875 he won the Grand Prix de Rome. This led to a scholarship at the French Academy in Rome from January 1876 to December 1879. In 1885 he won a prize at the "Exposition Universelle" in Antwerp. He also won prestigious art prizes in the USA (1876) and Australia (1881 and 1897). He became a Knight of the Legion of Honour in 1903. More on Léon François Comerre

Albert Besnard
La bayadère, Hindu dancing girl
Oriental dance in the presence of the artist and his wife
Oil on panel
19 5/8 x 24in (50 x 61cm)
Private Collection

This painting depicts the bayadère, a dance native to India as we can see from the exotic costume worn both by the dancer herself and by the spectators in the background. The dance is also being observed by the painter and his wife, the sculptress Charlotte Dubray, who are clothed in the Western fashions of their day. 

The mood and the environment are imbued with the seductive charm exuded by the exotic feelings that the Indian dance clearly aroused in the artist. More on this painting

Paul-Albert Besnard (2 June 1849 – 4 December 1934) was a French painter and printmaker. He was born in Paris and studied at the École des Beaux-Arts, studied with Jean Bremond and was influenced by Alexandre Cabanel. He won the Prix de Rome in 1874 with the painting Death of Timophanes.

Until about 1880 he followed the academic tradition, but then broke away completely, and devoted himself to the study of colour and light as conceived by the Impressionists. The realism of this group never appealed to his bold imagination, but he applied their technical method to ideological and decorative works on a large scale.

A great virtuoso, he achieved brilliant successes alike in watercolour, pastel, oil and etching, both in portraiture, in landscape and in decoration. His close analysis of light can be studied in his picture La femme qui se chauffe at the Luxembourg in Paris, one of a large group of nude studies.

Partly under the influence of Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds, whom he studied during a three-years stay in England, he applied his methods to a brilliant series of portraits, especially of women. His landscape work is represented by L'ile heureuse, and Un Ruisseau dans la Montagne (1920). A symbolist in his decorative work, Besnard's frank delight in the external world and his “chic” luminous technique bring him close to the 18th-century French painters.

He was represented in the official exhibition of French art held in the United States in 1919-20 by a symbolic 1917 portrait of Cardinal Mercier. An important exhibition of his works was shown in different cities of the United States in 1924. In 1932, he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Honorary Corresponding member. More on Albert Besnard

Henry A. Ferguson
Travelers before the walls of an Arab town
Oil on canvas
15 x 24 1/2in (38 x 62cm)
Private Collection

Estimated at US$4,000 - US$6,000 in November 2015

Henry Augustus Ferguson (c. 1842-1911) was an American landscape painter of the Hudson River School, distinguishing himself by depicting scenes from South America to the Middle East.

His birth is variously dated between 1842 and 1845, in Glen Falls, New York. He studied painting under Homer Dodge Martin and George Henry Boughton in Albany when he was under the age of 18, moving to New York City "in the early years of the Civil War."  He continued to paint the Hudson Valley, and exhibited at the National Academy of Design in 1867 and 1870. Ferguson spent much of the 1870s out of the country on long painting expeditions, based mainly in Santiago, Chile, selling work to patrons in South America, as well as preparing a trove of sketches for later completion. Returning to New York by the close of 1873, he set up shop. He continued to produce finished works from this expedition before setting off for another multi-year excursion to Cairo and Venice. He died in New York City on March 23, 1911 More on Henry Augustus Ferguson

French School, 19th Century
An Arab warrior smoking a pipe
Watercolor and gouache on blue paper
13 1/4 x 9 1/2in (33.6 x 24.2cm)
Private Collection

Estimated at US$2,000 - US$3,000 in November 2015

19th-century French art was made in France or by French citizens during the following political regimes: Napoleon Bonaparte's Consulate (1799-1804) and Empire (1804-1814), the Restoration under Louis XVIII and Charles X (1814-1830), the July Monarchy under Louis Philippe d'Orléans (1830-1848), the Second Republic (1848-1852), the Second Empire under Napoleon III (1852-1871), and the first decades of the Third Republic (1871-1940).

Many of the developments in French arts in this period parallel changes in literature. More on 19th-century French art

Sergei Ivanovich Vasilkovsky , 1854-1917
Vasilkovsky Resting with Kossacks
Oil on board
9 x 5 1/2 in (22.8 x 13.4 cm)
Private Collection

Estimated at $5,000 - $7,000 in June 2021

Sergei Ivanovich Vasilkovsky (October 19, 1854, Izium — October 7, 1917, Kharkiv) was one of the most prolific Ukrainian artists of the pre-revolutionary period and an expert on Ukrainian ornamentation and folk art. Vasylkivsky was born and spent his childhood in the picturesque surroundings of Izium, a city in the historical region of Sloboda Ukraine, and today's Kharkiv Oblast. The future painter had a chumak grandfather whose roots reached cossack ancestral lines. Vasylkivsky's father was a writer and taught his son the aesthetics of proper calligraphy. His mother, through her folk songs set the foundation which provided the inspiration for Vasylkivsky's art later in life.

In 1876, contrary to his father's wishes, Vasylkivsky left for the St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts. His education was supplemented with traveling exhibitions and trips back home. Upon graduation in 1885 he traveled to Europe and North Africa on a scholarship from the Academy, painting places he visited from Spain to Germany and Egypt.

In Paris, Vasylkivsky became fascinated with the Barbizon school. By the time he returned to the Academy, Vasylkivsky brought with him an exhibition of almost 50 art works. Critics praised these paintings. The paintings reflected the influence of the Barbizon School's panoramic depiction of space, the sky and the silvery atmosphere of "Pierre Corot". Vasylkivsky retained these characteristics in his Ukrainian landscapes.

After settling in Kharkiv in 1888, he became active in Ukrainian artistic circles and headed the architectural and art society there. Vasylkivsky died at age 62 in Kharkiv. More on Sergei Ivanovich Vasilkovsky

Stanisław Chlebowski (1835–1884)
The prayer
Oil on panel
17 3/4 x 11 1/2in (45 x 29.5cm)
Private Collection

Sold For 125,000 GBP in April 2016

After the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, the Byzantine church of Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque. Among the features added over subsequent centuries was the sultan's loge, seen in the background, built by the Italian-Swiss architects, the Fossati brothers. The Fossatis, who undertook a major restoration of the Hagia Sophia for Sultan Abdül Mecit in 1847-9, also added the eight great calligraphic roundels that hang over the nave, two of which are seen here. They bear the names of Allah, the Prophet Mohammed, the first four caliphs, and Hasan and Hussein, two of the Prophet's grandsons who are revered as martyrs.  More on this painting

Stanisław Chlebowski (1835–1884) was a Polish painter with Russian and Turkish connections. He was a renowned specialist in Oriental themes. Chlebowski 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. Chlebowski became popular in the sultanate. 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 Posen, in Rundhausen 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 on Stanisław Chlebowski

 Fabio Fabbi
The slave market
Oil on panel
39 1/2 x 21 1/2in (100.3 x 54.6cm)
Private Collection

Sold for GBP 30,000 in Jun 2006

Fabio Fabbi
Orientalist Painting
Oil on panel
31 x 22 in, ornate gilt frame: 43 x 34 in
Private Collection

Fabio Fabbi, see above

Gyula Tornai (1861 – 1928)
The Moroccan bride
Oil on panel
31 x 22 in, ornate gilt frame: 43 x 34 in
Private Collection

Estimated for US$40,000 - US$60,000 in November 2014

Tornai often designed the frames for his paintings to complement the subject matter, as is the case in the present lot.

Gyula Tornai (1861 in Görgő – 1928 in Budapest) was a Hungarian painter, now featured in the Hungarian National Gallery. 

Gyula Tornai was a great Hungarian orientalist painter. Tornai studied painting at three different academies: Vienna, Munich, and Budapest. He then traveled to India, China, and Japan before settling in Morocco. He stayed in Tangier between 1890-1891. He participated in the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1900, where he received a bronze medal. He died in Budapest in 1928. More on Gyula Tornai





Please visit my other blogs: Art CollectorMythologyMarine ArtPortrait of a Lady, The OrientalistArt of the Nude and The Canals of VeniceMiddle East Artists365 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.


No comments:

Post a Comment