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拍品專文
BORN IN PARIS INTO A LANGUEDOC FAMILY DESCENDED FROM THE POLITICIAN BENJAMIN CONSTANT DE REBECQUE, JEAN-JOSEPH-BENJAMIN CONSTANT TRAINED FIRST IN TOULOUSE, AT THE LOCAL ART ACADEMY, BEFORE MOVING TO PARIS IN 1866. HE ENROLLED AT THE ECOLE DES BEAUX ARTS AND COMPLETED HIS TRAINING UNDER ALEXANDRE CABANEL. THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR INTERRUPTED HIS STUDIES AND HIS BURGEONING CAREER, AND HE NEVER RESUMED HIS ACADEMIC TRAINING. INSTEAD HE LEFT FOR SPAIN AND FELL UNDER THE SPELL OF THE MUDEJAR ARCHITECTURE OF ANDALUCIA. THE SPANISH TRIP WHETTED HIS APPETITE FOR THE MAGHREB.
FOLLOWING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF MARIO FORTUNY (SEE LOT 9), HE EMBARKED FROM GIBRALTAR FOR MOROCCO, IN THE SUITE OF CHARLES JOSEPH TISSOT, FRENCH PLENIPOTENTIARY TO MOROCCO. ALTHOUGH HE HAD INTENDED TO STAY IN MOROCCO FOR ONLY A MONTH, HE TRAVELLED AROUND THE COUNTRY FOR NEARLY TWO YEARS, RETURNING TO FRANCE IN 1873 WITH A RICH COLLECTION OF ISLAMIC ARTEFACTS. THE TILES, JEWELLERY, POTTERY AND PRECIOUS OBJECTS HE HAD BROUGHT BACK TO PARIS FILLED HIS PARIS STUDIO IN PIGALLE: 'CARPETS WERE HUNG ON THE WALLS, TEXTILES SWAGGED OVER BALCONIES, PLUMP, EMBROIDERED CUSHIONS LAY ON DIVANS, PROVIDING THE ARTIST WITH AN EXOTIC BACKGROUND FOR HIS PAINTINGS, EXECUTED FOR OVER A DECADE FOLLOWING HIS JOURNEY' (L. THORNTON, THE ORIENTALISTS, PAINTER-TRAVELLERS, PARIS, 1994, P. 27).
THROUGHOUT THE 1870S AND 1880S HE REGULARLY PRESENTED ORIENTALIST PAINTINGS AT THE SALON, HIS FIRST SUBMISSION BEING LES FEMMES DU RIF (MUSéE DES BEAUX ARTS, CARCASSONNE) IN 1873. THIS PAINTING SET THE STYLE FOR HIS MOST CHARACTERISTIC, SUMPTUOUS ORIENTAL SCENES, ENLIVENED BY AN EXTREMELY RICH AND BRIGHT PALETTE, AND A REFINED TASTE FOR LAVISH DETAIL. AT THE CENTRE OF HIS INSPIRATION WAS THE GATHERING OF THE WOMEN IN THE HAREM, AS IN HIS MOST FAMOUS MOROCCAN HAREM, THE SHARIFAS (MUSéE DES BEAUX ARTS, CARCASSONNE) AND EVENING ON THE TERRACES, MOROCCO (MONTREAL MUSEUM OF ART).
FEMMES DE HAREM AU MAROC, PRESENTED AT THE PARIS SALON IN 1875, IS ONE THE MOST ACCOMPLISHED VISUAL TRANSLATIONS OF CONSTANT'S VISION OF THE GRAND, ALMOST SYBARITIC WORLD OF THE HAREM. AS ILENE SUSAN FORT NOTES, IN HER RECENT CONTRIBUTION TO THE SYMPOSIUM PICTURING THE MIDDLE EAST - A HUNDRED YEARS OF EUROPEAN ORIENTALISM (DAHESH MUSEUM, NEW YORK, 1996, P. 43): '...IN ORIENTALIST LITERATURE AND THE VISUAL ARTS, THE HAREM WAS THE HOME OF ALL EASTERN WOMEN. THE HAREM SIGNIFIED THE EAST, ITS MYSTERY, SEDUCTIVENESS, AND INDOLENCE. SINCE IT WAS A CLOISTERED PLACE WHERE ACCESS WAS FORBIDDEN TO MALE NONRELATIVES, IN THE MINDS OF WESTERN MEN THE HAREM BECAME A FORTRESS WHERE GUARDS FORMED A HUMAN BARRIER'. THE ARTIST'S REPRESENTATIONS OF THE HAREMS WERE, UNDERSTANDABLY ENOUGH, EXCLUSIVELY IMAGINARY AND IDEALISED SCENES, WHICH CAPTURED THE QUINTESSENTIAL FASCINATION OF THE ORIENT FOR THE WESTERN MAN. AS IT WAS FOR JOHN FREDERICK LEWIS'S TWO CELEBRATED VERSIONS OF THE HAREM (PRIVATE COLLECTION, 1849; THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, LONDON, 1850 - ILLUSTRATED IN THE INTRODUCTION TO THIS CATALOGUE), BENJAMIN CONSTANT'S EXOTIC SCENES RECEIVED AN EXUBERANT RESPONSE FROM THE PUBLIC AND CRITICS OF THE SALONS, WHO DELIGHTED AT WHAT THEY APPRECIATED AS ETHNOGRAPHICALLY ACCURATE PAINTING THAT CATERED PERFECTLY TO THE WESTERN FANTASY OF THE HAREM.
FOLLOWING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF MARIO FORTUNY (SEE LOT 9), HE EMBARKED FROM GIBRALTAR FOR MOROCCO, IN THE SUITE OF CHARLES JOSEPH TISSOT, FRENCH PLENIPOTENTIARY TO MOROCCO. ALTHOUGH HE HAD INTENDED TO STAY IN MOROCCO FOR ONLY A MONTH, HE TRAVELLED AROUND THE COUNTRY FOR NEARLY TWO YEARS, RETURNING TO FRANCE IN 1873 WITH A RICH COLLECTION OF ISLAMIC ARTEFACTS. THE TILES, JEWELLERY, POTTERY AND PRECIOUS OBJECTS HE HAD BROUGHT BACK TO PARIS FILLED HIS PARIS STUDIO IN PIGALLE: 'CARPETS WERE HUNG ON THE WALLS, TEXTILES SWAGGED OVER BALCONIES, PLUMP, EMBROIDERED CUSHIONS LAY ON DIVANS, PROVIDING THE ARTIST WITH AN EXOTIC BACKGROUND FOR HIS PAINTINGS, EXECUTED FOR OVER A DECADE FOLLOWING HIS JOURNEY' (L. THORNTON, THE ORIENTALISTS, PAINTER-TRAVELLERS, PARIS, 1994, P. 27).
THROUGHOUT THE 1870S AND 1880S HE REGULARLY PRESENTED ORIENTALIST PAINTINGS AT THE SALON, HIS FIRST SUBMISSION BEING LES FEMMES DU RIF (MUSéE DES BEAUX ARTS, CARCASSONNE) IN 1873. THIS PAINTING SET THE STYLE FOR HIS MOST CHARACTERISTIC, SUMPTUOUS ORIENTAL SCENES, ENLIVENED BY AN EXTREMELY RICH AND BRIGHT PALETTE, AND A REFINED TASTE FOR LAVISH DETAIL. AT THE CENTRE OF HIS INSPIRATION WAS THE GATHERING OF THE WOMEN IN THE HAREM, AS IN HIS MOST FAMOUS MOROCCAN HAREM, THE SHARIFAS (MUSéE DES BEAUX ARTS, CARCASSONNE) AND EVENING ON THE TERRACES, MOROCCO (MONTREAL MUSEUM OF ART).
FEMMES DE HAREM AU MAROC, PRESENTED AT THE PARIS SALON IN 1875, IS ONE THE MOST ACCOMPLISHED VISUAL TRANSLATIONS OF CONSTANT'S VISION OF THE GRAND, ALMOST SYBARITIC WORLD OF THE HAREM. AS ILENE SUSAN FORT NOTES, IN HER RECENT CONTRIBUTION TO THE SYMPOSIUM PICTURING THE MIDDLE EAST - A HUNDRED YEARS OF EUROPEAN ORIENTALISM (DAHESH MUSEUM, NEW YORK, 1996, P. 43): '...IN ORIENTALIST LITERATURE AND THE VISUAL ARTS, THE HAREM WAS THE HOME OF ALL EASTERN WOMEN. THE HAREM SIGNIFIED THE EAST, ITS MYSTERY, SEDUCTIVENESS, AND INDOLENCE. SINCE IT WAS A CLOISTERED PLACE WHERE ACCESS WAS FORBIDDEN TO MALE NONRELATIVES, IN THE MINDS OF WESTERN MEN THE HAREM BECAME A FORTRESS WHERE GUARDS FORMED A HUMAN BARRIER'. THE ARTIST'S REPRESENTATIONS OF THE HAREMS WERE, UNDERSTANDABLY ENOUGH, EXCLUSIVELY IMAGINARY AND IDEALISED SCENES, WHICH CAPTURED THE QUINTESSENTIAL FASCINATION OF THE ORIENT FOR THE WESTERN MAN. AS IT WAS FOR JOHN FREDERICK LEWIS'S TWO CELEBRATED VERSIONS OF THE HAREM (PRIVATE COLLECTION, 1849; THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, LONDON, 1850 - ILLUSTRATED IN THE INTRODUCTION TO THIS CATALOGUE), BENJAMIN CONSTANT'S EXOTIC SCENES RECEIVED AN EXUBERANT RESPONSE FROM THE PUBLIC AND CRITICS OF THE SALONS, WHO DELIGHTED AT WHAT THEY APPRECIATED AS ETHNOGRAPHICALLY ACCURATE PAINTING THAT CATERED PERFECTLY TO THE WESTERN FANTASY OF THE HAREM.