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A COLLECTION OF WORKS BY WILLEM DE FAMARS TESTAS (DUTCH 1834-1896) Willem de Famars Testas was born in Utrecht on the 30th of August 1834. With both of his parents descending from military backgrounds, the young Willem at first considered following in their footsteps but eventually decided to dedicate himself to his artistic vocation. In 1851 he entered the Hague Drawing academy, where he underwent a classical training with J.E.J. van den Berg (1802-1861) as his tutor. (Only two years later the artist received an award for the discipline of 'compositie', of which Christie's will sell the original document, lot 230) After leaving the academy in 1856, Testas joined the artist's society Pulchri Studio and participated in the annual exhibition of 'Levende Meesters' for the first time in 1857. During these early years of his career Testas'oeuvre consisted of portraits and pictures of animals. A year later, in 1858, Testas was given an opportunity that would have a far-reaching effect on his artistic career. Via a distant relative, Testas was put in touch with Emile Prisse d'Avenne (1807-1879), an experienced Parisian archaeologist who was about to undertake a trip to Egypt. Prisse d'Avenne's aim was to gather additional material for a new publication on Egyptian art and needed an official draughtsman and photographer to record the Pharaonic and Islamic architecture. Together with the French photographer A. Jarrot, Testas was eventually asked to accompany Prisse d'Avenne on his expedition and left Utrecht on 6 May 1858. Although Testas had agreed on assisting Prisse for a period of six months, the trip through Egypt finally lasted two full years and turned Testas into an undisputed pioneer in his field. No other Dutch nineteenth century artist could boast a comparable amount of knowledge of the orient as he had accumulated during this unique sojourn. Prisse's expedition started off in Alexandria and subsequently took Testas and the photographer to Cairo where, for the duration of a year, they lead a hard-working and solitary life. Only in the summer of 1859 did the group leave the capital to continue their journey along the Nile to the south. After reaching the Nubian temples of Abu Simbel the expedition returned north via Luxor and arrived in Alexandria again in June of 1860. A list made by Testas himself and entitled 'Liste de mes occupations pour Mr Prisse lors de mon voyage en Egypt' gives insight into the various activities the artist carried out during his trip. (M.J. Raven, Willem De Famars Testas-Reisschetsen uit Egypte 1858-1860, 's-Gravenhage 1988, p. 194-200.) In his spare time Testas devoted himself to making sketches and watercolours of streetscenes, figures, animals and the landscapes and monuments surrounding him. (see lot 225) Together with his diary, the letters he wrote to his parents and the artefacts he collected on his way, these annotated sketches constitue an invaluable source of information and make Testas the best documented traveller-painter in Dutch history. Above all, the sketches and drawings provided the artist with inspiration after the return to his studio and were used as reference for his further oriental oeuvre. Having settled in Utrecht, Testas thus elaborated his in-situ studies into paintings and submitted the works to both the Tentoonstelling van Levende Meesters and the exhibitons at the artist's society Kunstliefde. Internationally, few academic artists at the time remained untouched by the phenomenon of Orientalism. From the earliest years of the 19th century (and on to the 20th) artists explored the Middle East for diverse reasons. Whether to work as a graphic chronicler during a war or to accompany rich travellers who wanted visual records of their trip. Others embarked on journeys to the Orient for sheer adventure. Students were also encouraged by the academies to undertake trips to these exotic destinations and by 1860 the Grand Tour included the Near East. Pictures evoking the mysticism and richness of the Islamic culture came to pervade the Salons and shook the European aesthetic tradition. In contrast to his French and English colleagues, who nurtured a strong liking for sumptuous and imaginary depictions of harems, palaces and colourful interiors of mosques, Testas' work was realistic and clearly revealed his training as an archaeological draughtsman. Altough Orientalism made a furore internationally, the Dutch taste for this genre never fully developped and Testas' real breakthrough only came when his work was discovered by the renowned Parisian artdealer Albert Goupil (1840-1884). Goupil was so impressed by Testas' orientalism that he even invited him along on an expedition to the Middle East lead by no one less than Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904). Besides Goupil and his brother-in-law, Gérôme, the group further consisted of J.F.L. Bonnat (1833-1922), J.R. Goubie (1842-1899), E. Journault (fl. 1864-1876) and P.M. Lenoir (died 1881). (see illustration) During the trip itself W. de Barthélemy and F. Masson (1847-1923) temporarily joined the expedition. So eight years after the return from his first journey, Testas embarked on a second trip to the Near East. Only this time under completely different circumstances. Whereas, in 1858-1860, Testas had worked as a documentalist under the strict supervision of Prisse d'Avenne, he now travelled as an independant artist in the company of like-minded painters. In addition, the artist could now make good use of of his knowledge of the local situation and his command of the Arabic language. The former both arrousing considerable admiration among his fellow travellers. During this second trip, that lasted from the 1st of January until the 2nd of July 1868, Testas not only revisited Alexandria and Cairo but also across the Sinai desert, saw Petra and toured through Palestina and Syria. Noteworthy is the journey through the desert peninsula which the artists undertook on camels and of which Testas made watercolour impressions on the spot (Karavaan op de berg Sinai, 10 maart 1868, foto Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie). Other sites and situations were recorded after Testas returned to Holland, as is illustrated by the inscription 'Souvenir de Mars 1868' on one of Testas'rare oilpaintings 'Le Défilé à Petra' (sold in these rooms on 30 October 1996, lot 30, ill) and by lot 229 which bears the inscription 'Souvenir de Senouris dans le Fayoum'. Although Testas had established a considerable reputation by this time, he was eventually forced to exchange his native town Utrecht for Brussels, where the artclimate was more favourable. In 1882, the artist married Johanna Françoise Leonardine van der Mandere (1847-1921) with whom he eventually had two children. Lot 244 portrays their eldest son Henri Baudouin who was born in 1883. Testas'second child, Marie Madeleine (1885-1945), would follow in his footsteps and also became an artist (see lot 256). After his move to Brussels, Testas also dedicated himself to picturing episodes from Dutch history and made book illustrations for works by amongst others Jakob van Lennep. Until his death in 1896, Testas' main source of inspiration would however remain the trips he made to the Middle East. The following collection of drawings and watercolours perfectly reflects the various genres that Testas produced throughout his career. Above all, they bear testimony to the artist's sojourn in the Middle East. An undertaking that has remained unsurpassed and makes Testas the most important orientalist in Dutch art history.

Willem de Famars Testas (Dutch, 1834-1896)

The courtyard of Maison St. Jean in Damascus

Details

Willem de Famars Testas (Dutch, 1834-1896)
The courtyard of Maison St. Jean in Damascus
inscribed 'Maison St Jean Damasquin/Damas.' on the reverse
pencil and watercolour on paper, unframed
25 x 17.5 cm.

Special notice

Christie's charge a buyer's premium of 20.825% of the hammer price for lots with values up to NLG 200,000. If the hammer price exceeds the NLG 200,000 then the premium is calculated at 20.825% of the first NLG 200,000 plus 11.9% of any amount in excess of NLG 200,000.

Lot Essay

The present lot depicts the courtyard of a house in Damascus, where Testas and the expedition arrived at the end of their trip in 1868. At the time the capital of Syria was still under Ottoman rule.
Please compare the present lot with a squared pencil drawing of the same subject-matter in the collection of the Teylers Museum, Haarlem.
(M.J. Raven,Willem de Famars Testas-Reisschetsen uit Egypte 1858-1860,'s-Gravenhage 1988, p. 64, ill.)

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