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Lot Essay
ALTHOUGH VAN MALDEGHEM WAS KNOWN FOR PAINTING MONUMENTAL LANDSCAPES AND HISTORICAL SCENES, HE WAS ALSO A SKILLED WATERCOLOURIST. HE HAD TRAINED UNDER IN GUSTAVE WAPPERS IN ANTWERP, AND WAS AWARDED THE PRIX DE ROME IN 1843. HE BELONGS TO A GENERATION OF BELGIAN ARTISTS WHO REPRESENTED ORIENTALIST SUBJECTS IN A ROMANTIC WAY, OFTEN DISPLAYING AN INTEREST IN EVERY DAY LIFE.
THIS PORTRAIT OF A DRUSE WOMAN FROM LEBANON EXEMPLIFIES VAN MALDEGHEM'S ETHNOGRAPHIC INTERESTS AND IS INVESTED WITH A DELICACY OF TOUCH WHICH COMPLEMENTS THE SEDATE BEAUTY OF THE SUBJECT. THE DETAILS AND THE RICHNESS OF THE WOMAN'S CLOTHING ARE REMINISCENT OF THE WORKS OF HIS CONTEMPORARY JEAN-FRANçOIS PORTAELS (1818-1895), WHO VISITED LEBANON IN 1842. THIS TRADITION OF FINE REPRESENTATIONS OF ELEGANTLY DRESSED WOMEN GOES BACK TO THE ICONS OF 16TH CENTURY TURKISH ENGRAVINGS. FEMME DRUSE, IN PARTICULAR, CAN BE CONNECTED TO AN ENGRAVING BY THE MASTER L.D. ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN 1568, TURC ALLANT AU BAIN (SEE PICTURING THE MIDDLE EAST. A HUNDRED YEARS OF EUROPEAN ORIENTALISM, SYMPOSIUM AT THE DAHESH MUSEUM, NEW YORK, 1996, P. 68).
THIS PORTRAIT OF A DRUSE WOMAN FROM LEBANON EXEMPLIFIES VAN MALDEGHEM'S ETHNOGRAPHIC INTERESTS AND IS INVESTED WITH A DELICACY OF TOUCH WHICH COMPLEMENTS THE SEDATE BEAUTY OF THE SUBJECT. THE DETAILS AND THE RICHNESS OF THE WOMAN'S CLOTHING ARE REMINISCENT OF THE WORKS OF HIS CONTEMPORARY JEAN-FRANçOIS PORTAELS (1818-1895), WHO VISITED LEBANON IN 1842. THIS TRADITION OF FINE REPRESENTATIONS OF ELEGANTLY DRESSED WOMEN GOES BACK TO THE ICONS OF 16TH CENTURY TURKISH ENGRAVINGS. FEMME DRUSE, IN PARTICULAR, CAN BE CONNECTED TO AN ENGRAVING BY THE MASTER L.D. ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN 1568, TURC ALLANT AU BAIN (SEE PICTURING THE MIDDLE EAST. A HUNDRED YEARS OF EUROPEAN ORIENTALISM, SYMPOSIUM AT THE DAHESH MUSEUM, NEW YORK, 1996, P. 68).