La jeune mauresque, Campagne d'Alger

In 1866 Frederick Arthur Bridgman travelled to Paris to study with Jean-Lon Grme at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. His early work had been characterised by the realistic rendering of the Bretonese and the American Colony at Pont-Aven, but under Grme's influence he became fascinated by Orientalist subjects and in 1873 he made his first of many trips to the Middle East to study firsthand this exotic world. The trip revolutionised both the subject matter of his painting and the palette in which he chose to paint. Jeune mauresque, campagne d'Algiers probably dates from the late 1880s, after the artist had made his third trip to Algeria. According to Ilene Susan Fort, the painting is a "splendid example of Bridgman's mature painting style", and shows the artist focusing on Algerian women placed in outdoor settings in order to capture the brilliant sunlight so particular to that region.

We are grateful to Dr. Ilene Susan Fort for her assistance in preparing this catalogue entry.