An Arab Warrior mounted on a Horse

At the age of twenty-two, in 1871, Edwin Lord Weeks embarked on extensive travels through Morocco, Egypt, Palestine and Syria, where he sketched voraciously and, in 1874, exhibited several paintings inspired by this journey in his native city of Boston. Shortly after this, Weeks relocated to Paris where he enrolled under the tutelage of Leon Bonnat; his exposure to these exotic lands stood him in good stead with Bonnat and his friend Jean-Léon Gérôme, both of whom encouraged Weeks’ interest in Orientalist subjects. The die was cast, and subsequent travels in Morrocco provided ample inspiration for the young artist.

This large sheet is a preparatory study for Weeks' early oil The Departure from the Stronghold, painted in Morocco and once in the collection of the American artist Chester Hicks Loomis. The present work therefore predates Weeks’ studies in Paris, and clearly highlights the fine quality of his practice even at this early stage in his career.