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Lot Essay
Originally a Viennese, Ernst decided to settle in Paris in 1876. Much like his very close friend Ludwig Deutsch, he took French nationality and both artists had a significant impact as the second generation of French Orientalist painters. The first generation, such as Vernet, Colin and Delacroix were inspired by political events whereas the second generation, such as Gerôme, Discart, Deutsch and Ernst were more interested in depicting scenes of daily life in the Middle East.
Ernst's first taste of the East was sparked by journeys to Moorish Spain, Morocco and Tunis in the second half of the 1880s followed by a visit to Constantinople and Egypt in the 1890s. During these travels he became very interested in eastern styles of decoration, in particular tile-making, and by 1900 he left Paris to live in Fontenay-aux-Roses, where he decorated his home in an Ottoman style and lived among the oriental objects which figured so largely in his paintings. In fact, he even painted wearing the tasseled cap known as a tarboosh.
A gifted student of Gérôme, Rudolf Ernst implemented the great academic master's naturally accurate and detailed renderings and was inspired by his use of bright colors. Ernst's magnificent gift was his capability to combine artifacts, textiles, colors, tiles and architectural elements of the East freely. In his desire to recreate the spirit of an idyllic Orient, Ernst freely relied upon artistic license. The liberties he takes in his photo-realistic compositions are what poetry is to prose.
The Bride, is a tour-de-force of Ernst's oeuvre. The artist combines anecdotal story telling with a large, engaging multi-figural composition. The composition is further embellished by minutely detailed fabrics, exotic designs and fine rendering of Egyptian ablaq masonry blocks - alternate courses of red brick and yellow stone so typical of 16th and 17th Century architecture in Cairo.
Weddings are an important aspect of social life in the East as they are in the West. Large ceremonies followed by numerous and crowded parties may not be affordable to all but within the strictly adhered dowery-system of the East they are not at all uncommon. Ernst was drawn to these ceremonies, but more often than not his compositions concentrate on the newly weds, as demonstrated in the Les mariés (fig. 1) and in The Wedding Day (fig. 2). The present work is a far more ambitious example in this genre as the moment depicted is that of the collection of the bride from her parents' house. The choice of ceremony requires a more complex and ambitious composition than of other works in Ernst's oeuvre.
Also see notes to lots 11, 14 and 15.
(fig. 1) Rudolf Ernst, La sortie de la Mariée, Najd Collection.
(fig. 2) Rudolf Ernst, Le jour du Mariage, Private Collection.
(fig. 3) Rudolf Ernst, Les Amants, Private Collection
Ernst's first taste of the East was sparked by journeys to Moorish Spain, Morocco and Tunis in the second half of the 1880s followed by a visit to Constantinople and Egypt in the 1890s. During these travels he became very interested in eastern styles of decoration, in particular tile-making, and by 1900 he left Paris to live in Fontenay-aux-Roses, where he decorated his home in an Ottoman style and lived among the oriental objects which figured so largely in his paintings. In fact, he even painted wearing the tasseled cap known as a tarboosh.
A gifted student of Gérôme, Rudolf Ernst implemented the great academic master's naturally accurate and detailed renderings and was inspired by his use of bright colors. Ernst's magnificent gift was his capability to combine artifacts, textiles, colors, tiles and architectural elements of the East freely. In his desire to recreate the spirit of an idyllic Orient, Ernst freely relied upon artistic license. The liberties he takes in his photo-realistic compositions are what poetry is to prose.
The Bride, is a tour-de-force of Ernst's oeuvre. The artist combines anecdotal story telling with a large, engaging multi-figural composition. The composition is further embellished by minutely detailed fabrics, exotic designs and fine rendering of Egyptian ablaq masonry blocks - alternate courses of red brick and yellow stone so typical of 16th and 17th Century architecture in Cairo.
Weddings are an important aspect of social life in the East as they are in the West. Large ceremonies followed by numerous and crowded parties may not be affordable to all but within the strictly adhered dowery-system of the East they are not at all uncommon. Ernst was drawn to these ceremonies, but more often than not his compositions concentrate on the newly weds, as demonstrated in the Les mariés (fig. 1) and in The Wedding Day (fig. 2). The present work is a far more ambitious example in this genre as the moment depicted is that of the collection of the bride from her parents' house. The choice of ceremony requires a more complex and ambitious composition than of other works in Ernst's oeuvre.
Also see notes to lots 11, 14 and 15.
(fig. 1) Rudolf Ernst, La sortie de la Mariée, Najd Collection.
(fig. 2) Rudolf Ernst, Le jour du Mariage, Private Collection.
(fig. 3) Rudolf Ernst, Les Amants, Private Collection