02 Paintings by Orientalist Artists, Gustav Bauernfeind's Jaffa, with footnotes, #97

Gustav Bauernfeind  (1848–1904)

Market in Jaffa, c. 1887

Oil on canvas

height: 82 cm (32.2 in); width: 109 cm (42.9 in)

Private collection

Jaffa, the southern and oldest part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, is an ancient port city in Palestine. Jaffa is known for its association with the biblical stories of Jonah, Solomon and Saint Peter as well as the mythological story of Andromeda and Perseus, and later for its oranges. More on Jaffa

GUSTAV BAUERNFEIND, German, 1848 - 1904

PROCESSION IN JAFFA, c. 1890

Oil on canvas

105 by 135cm., 41½ by 53in.

Private collection

Here, a group of dervishes and sufis lead a religious procession, possibly of pilgrims, embarking on the annual Hajj to Mecca. Bauernfeind would have been quite familiar with the site of this important yearly event given his frequent visits to Damascus, the main hub and gathering point for the Syrian Hajj route south into Arabia. With flags flying, including the Solomonic seal, the crowd advances through a narrow Jaffa street on market day as onlookers, greengrocers, as well as a camel and a donkey, make way for it. In the far distance on the right, the Mediterranean Sea gleams in the evening light. More on this painting

Gustav Bauernfeind (4 September 1848, Sulz am Neckar - 24 December 1904, Jerusalem) was a German painter, illustrator and architect. He is considered to be one of the most notable Orientalist painters of Germany.

After completing his architectural studies in Stuttgart, he worked in the architectural firm of Professor Wilhelm Bäumer and later in that of Adolph Gnauth, where he also learned painting. In his earlier paintings, Bauernfeind focused on local views of Germany, as well as motifs from Italy. During his journey to the Levant from 1880 to 1882, he became interested in the Orient and repeated his travels again and again. In 1896 he moved with his wife and son all the way to Palestine and subsequently settled in Jerusalem in 1898. He also lived and worked in Lebanon and Syria.

His work is characterized primarily by architectural views of Jerusalem and the Holy Land. The paintings of Bauernfeind are mostly meticulously crafted, intricately composed and almost photographically accurate cityscapes and images of known sanctuaries in oil. In addition, he produced landscape scenes and watercolours. During his lifetime he was the most popular Orientalist painter of Germany, but soon fell into oblivion after his death. However, since the early 1980s, Bauernfeind was gradually rediscovered. At his birthplace in Sulz am Neckar, the life and work of the painter is commemorated by the Gustav Bauernfeind Museum with a large permanent exhibition. More Gustav Bauernfeind

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