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Orientalist Paintings

Orientalism through the Eyes of Jean-Léon Gérôme and his Pupils

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This year’s Orientalist Sale on 30 April presents no fewer than five paintings by Jean-Léon Gérôme, the artist considered among the greatest of all Orientalist painters. Gérôme’s own journeys to Egypt and Istanbul enriched his paintings of the region, and over some forty years as a professor at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, his vision influenced generations of successive Orientalists. The works in our sale offer an excellent opportunity to explore how Gérôme’s influence guided some of his most important pupils.

Past Auction
The Orientalist Sale
30 April 2019 | 12:30 PM BST | London

Orientalism through the Eyes of Jean-Léon Gérôme and his Pupils

  • Jean-Léon Gérôme, Evening Prayer, Cairo.
    Estimate £600,000-800,000
    Gérôme's first depiction of Muslim prayer reaches its culmination in this work. Gérôme creates an air of tranquility through his deft handling of the subjects in varying stages of prayer, the delicate rendering of the cityscape in the background and the gentle twilight.
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  • Jean-Léon Gérôme, Rider and his Steed in the Desert (1872).
    Estimate £1,000,000-1,500,000
    The intimate interaction between rider and exhausted steed set against a backdrop of the vast barren landscape demonstrates Gérôme's extraordinary ability to portray both the micro and macro with great sensitivity. This highly cinematic work reflects Gérôme's reliance on photography for his painterly vision and for achieving the greatest verisimilitude.
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  • Jean-Léon Gérôme, The Walls of Jerusalem (C. 1861).
    Estimate £25,000-35,000
    Over the course of its history, Jerusalem has been attacked, captured, recaptured, besieged and destroyed. All the while, its thick walls have defended the city and its history. Gérôme's view of the outer side of the walls presents a scene that is silently steeped in history.
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  • Jean-Léon Gérôme, The Citadel, Acre (c. 1861)
    Estimate £25,000-35,000
    Though it was used as a market at the time Gérôme visited the Hall of the Knights of St John, this citadel was once the main fortress and headquarters of Richard the Lionheart’s Crusaders. The absence of any figures and the sombre colour palette lends the setting gravity.
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  • Jean-Léon Gérôme, Prayer in the Desert (1864).
    Estimate £100,000-150,000
    Much like Rider and his Steed, this composition centres itself on the Arnaut, set before the desolate expanse of the desert and the commotion of the caravan, having stolen a moment of peaceful isolation for his prayers. Gérôme painted several versions of this composition, which fuses his experience of the desert with respect for Islamic prayer.
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  • Frederick Arthur Bridgman, Street in Algeria (1882).
    Estimate £200,000-300,000
    Shortly after arriving in Paris, American painter Bridgman found himself in the studio of Gérôme. Encouraged by him, Bridgman left Paris to explore the Islamic world. His compositions are infused with an air of contemplation and sensitivity toward his subjects. This proto-cinematic scene also demonstrates the great technical precision Bridgman had absorbed from his master.
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  • Eugène Girardet, Celebration in Biskra (1879).
    Estimate £80,000-120,000
    Celebration in Biskra illustrates the exuberant fanfare of a Berber or Touareg wedding. Girardet provides a subtle glimpse of the arid Algerian landscape surrounding this luminous Saharan oasis settlement which bursts with life. Gérôme encouraged Girardet to visit North Africa, which brought Girardet to Algeria (where Gérôme himself had never been). Algeria came to earn Girardet's especial fondness. Though the work is set in a new landscape unlike those we would find in Gérôme oeuvre, Girardet affords his composition the same technical precision and academic style of his master.
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  • Clément Pujol de Guastavino, Gnaoua festival before the Medina Gate, Tangier.
    Estimate £40,000-60,000
    This lively dancing scene presents a refreshing change of theme from Pujol de Guastavino's typical interior scenes, rich in decoration and intricate ornamentation. Born in Spain, Pujol de Guastavino moved to Paris in 1876 where he studied under Gérôme. Whilst here, he exhibited both at the Salon and the 1889 Exposition Universelle, where he won a medal of honour. The exquisite virtuosity and skilful rendering of his subject's arrested movement reveals Gérôme's influence.
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