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Lot Essay
Eastern women in their quarters were the most popular of themes in Orientalist painting as they represent the apogee of exotic fantasy. The idea of the harem, prohibited to all male visitors, fed the imagination of nineteenth century artists. Their usually lavish and sensual portrayals of these 'sanctuaries' represent the male voyeuristic fantasies of a 'forbidden place' or, as the word haram literally translates, 'that which is unlawful'. Although women were free to mingle with close male relatives, and if they were veiled with guests, they usually kept out of sight in their quarters prefering the distractions of entertainers, astrologers, and fortune tellers who were always very popular, specifically with single women wanting to marry.
Edouard Frédéric Wilhelm Richter was born in 1844, the son of a Dutch mother and a German father. His extensive artistic education took him first to the Hague Academy, then to Antwerp and finally to the Académie des Beaux Arts in Paris where he trained under Léon Bonnat and Ernest Hébert.
Richter first exhibited at the Salon in 1866 with a still-life, but for the next fifty years submitted a range of subject matter, including portraits, historical genre scenes and more specifically orientalist subjects. 'These last were set in Hispano-Moorish Spain or North Africa. They were often of enticing, gaudily-dressed single figures, Sultanas, slaves, Salomes, Scheherazades, and Salammbôs, in dark interiors lit by low, filtered light.' (L. Thornton, Women as Portrayed in Orientalist Painting, Paris, 1985, p. 249).
Richter's Orientalist subjects demonstrate a certain studied theatricality in the gesture of the figures and the composition, as seen in the present picture, as well as an exquisite handling of the textures and colours of the Orient.
Edouard Frédéric Wilhelm Richter was born in 1844, the son of a Dutch mother and a German father. His extensive artistic education took him first to the Hague Academy, then to Antwerp and finally to the Académie des Beaux Arts in Paris where he trained under Léon Bonnat and Ernest Hébert.
Richter first exhibited at the Salon in 1866 with a still-life, but for the next fifty years submitted a range of subject matter, including portraits, historical genre scenes and more specifically orientalist subjects. 'These last were set in Hispano-Moorish Spain or North Africa. They were often of enticing, gaudily-dressed single figures, Sultanas, slaves, Salomes, Scheherazades, and Salammbôs, in dark interiors lit by low, filtered light.' (L. Thornton, Women as Portrayed in Orientalist Painting, Paris, 1985, p. 249).
Richter's Orientalist subjects demonstrate a certain studied theatricality in the gesture of the figures and the composition, as seen in the present picture, as well as an exquisite handling of the textures and colours of the Orient.