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Lot Essay
Painted in Paris in 1903, Le fumeur is deeply inspired by the opulent Orientalist decoration of Deutsch's studio, in the Pigalle area in the tenth arrondissement. When he finally settled in the French capital in the late 1870s, the Austrian artist recreated in his atelier the sumptuous horror vacui of Islamic interiors, filling his rooms with mashrabiyes, painted ceramic tiles, textiles, carpets and precious objects brought back from his numerous trips to the Middle East, and used as important accessories for his paintings.
In Le Fumeur, Deutsch's refined taste for Ottoman collectanea stands out, whilst his observant eye indulges in the rarest Orientalist objects surrounding the elegant smoker. The Fumeur is lying on the most precious Turkoman carpet, a dark red Saryk Juval, in which we can admire the beautifully finished alem (the base panel, continuing around the sides), and the traditional design of four rows of Juval Gls (from gl, Turkish 'rose' and Persian 'flower', the gl is the primary ornament on the main carpet). The figure is cast against a wall of Damascus tiles of the rarest type, including a chromatically impressive and quite unusual yellow glaze, matching the more traditional blue decorations. Similarly, the carved mashrabiye, the mother of pearl inlaid tabouret and the precious ubuk (see lot 27) - the man's sophisticated pipe - betray the artist's passionate observation of the minutest details of Oriental street scenes.
Le Fumeur is a major example of Deutsch's ability to capture the atmosphere of sweet, languid far niente, iconographically associated with Orientalist interiors and more intimate scenes. The artist's brushstroke is unsurpassed in these typical small-scale oils, dedicated to the attentive description of one figure in magnificently detailed surroundings. At the core of Deustch's aesthetic concern is the lucid, controlled mastery of chromatic contrasts - perfectly embodied by the focus on one figure, manifesting the refinements of the East.
In Le Fumeur, Deutsch's refined taste for Ottoman collectanea stands out, whilst his observant eye indulges in the rarest Orientalist objects surrounding the elegant smoker. The Fumeur is lying on the most precious Turkoman carpet, a dark red Saryk Juval, in which we can admire the beautifully finished alem (the base panel, continuing around the sides), and the traditional design of four rows of Juval Gls (from gl, Turkish 'rose' and Persian 'flower', the gl is the primary ornament on the main carpet). The figure is cast against a wall of Damascus tiles of the rarest type, including a chromatically impressive and quite unusual yellow glaze, matching the more traditional blue decorations. Similarly, the carved mashrabiye, the mother of pearl inlaid tabouret and the precious ubuk (see lot 27) - the man's sophisticated pipe - betray the artist's passionate observation of the minutest details of Oriental street scenes.
Le Fumeur is a major example of Deutsch's ability to capture the atmosphere of sweet, languid far niente, iconographically associated with Orientalist interiors and more intimate scenes. The artist's brushstroke is unsurpassed in these typical small-scale oils, dedicated to the attentive description of one figure in magnificently detailed surroundings. At the core of Deustch's aesthetic concern is the lucid, controlled mastery of chromatic contrasts - perfectly embodied by the focus on one figure, manifesting the refinements of the East.