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Lot Essay
THIS IMPRESSIVE CANVAS WAS PAINTED BY LUDWIG DEUTSCH SHORTLY AFTER HIS SECOND TRIP TO CAIRO IN 1890. AS LYNNE THORNTON OBSERVES, HIS DEPICTIONS 'OF EGYPTIAN MEN AND WOMEN HAVE ALL THE SPONTANEITY OF ON-THE-SPOT SKETCHES. THE ARCHITECTURE, THE CLOTHES, ARMS AND ARMOUR IN HIS OILS ARE TREATED WITH BREATHTAKING MICROSCOPIC DETAIL. LIKE MANY OTHER ARTISTS OF THE TIME, HE USED AS STUDIO PROPS THE ISLAMIC TILES, TEXTILES AND METALWORK WHICH DECORATED THE HOUSES IN WHICH HE STAYED, AND VERY PROBABLY RELIED ON PHOTOGRAPHS AS WELL.
BESIDES EXCEPTIONAL TECHNICAL ABILITY, DEUTSCH HAD A KEEN EYE FOR SMALL GESTURES AND INDIVIDUAL EXPRESSIONS THAT GIVE HIS PEOPLE LIFE AND CHARACTER. THE THEMES HE CHOSE ARE QUIET AND PEACEFUL: DOMINO AND CHESS-PLAYERS, MUSLIMS AT PRAYER, PUBLIC SCRIBES, ARMED GUARDS, STREET ENTERTAINERS AND MERCHANTS...' (CATALOGUE OF THE EXHIBITION ORIENTALISM, DELACROIX TO KLEE, THE ART GALLERY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, 1997, P. 240).
DEUTSCH WAS PARTICULARLY FASCINATED BY THE MYSTICAL AURA OF A MERCHANT OF HEALING BALMS AND MEDICINAL HERBS, DISPENSING HIS MAGICAL POTIONS TO THE PEOPLE, AND ABOUT WHOM HE PIVOTS THE COMPOSITION.
THE ARTIST TWICE PORTRAYED THIS SOLEMN, YET HUMBLE ENCOUNTER BETWEEN THE HEALER AND HIS FOLLOWERS. IN A SMALLER VERSION ALSO EXECUTED IN 1891 (FIG. 1) DEUTSCH FOCUSSES ON THE CENTRAL FIGURE OF THE MAN, HOLDING HIS CANE WITH GRAVE DIGNITY, WHILE HANDING OVER TO A YOUNG GIRL HIS MAGICAL CURE. THE PRESENT CANVAS IS RICHER AND MORE COMPLEX THAN THE SMALLER OIL. WHILST STILL CONCENTRATING ON THE POWERFUL IMAGE OF THE HEALER, DEUTSCH HERE IS ALSO INTERESTED IN DEPICTING THE REACTIONS OF A MORE DIVERSE CROWD, CAPTURING THE ATMOSPHERE OF THIS VIVID EGYPTIAN SCENE.
SEE ALSO NOTE TO LOT 68.
BESIDES EXCEPTIONAL TECHNICAL ABILITY, DEUTSCH HAD A KEEN EYE FOR SMALL GESTURES AND INDIVIDUAL EXPRESSIONS THAT GIVE HIS PEOPLE LIFE AND CHARACTER. THE THEMES HE CHOSE ARE QUIET AND PEACEFUL: DOMINO AND CHESS-PLAYERS, MUSLIMS AT PRAYER, PUBLIC SCRIBES, ARMED GUARDS, STREET ENTERTAINERS AND MERCHANTS...' (CATALOGUE OF THE EXHIBITION ORIENTALISM, DELACROIX TO KLEE, THE ART GALLERY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, 1997, P. 240).
DEUTSCH WAS PARTICULARLY FASCINATED BY THE MYSTICAL AURA OF A MERCHANT OF HEALING BALMS AND MEDICINAL HERBS, DISPENSING HIS MAGICAL POTIONS TO THE PEOPLE, AND ABOUT WHOM HE PIVOTS THE COMPOSITION.
THE ARTIST TWICE PORTRAYED THIS SOLEMN, YET HUMBLE ENCOUNTER BETWEEN THE HEALER AND HIS FOLLOWERS. IN A SMALLER VERSION ALSO EXECUTED IN 1891 (FIG. 1) DEUTSCH FOCUSSES ON THE CENTRAL FIGURE OF THE MAN, HOLDING HIS CANE WITH GRAVE DIGNITY, WHILE HANDING OVER TO A YOUNG GIRL HIS MAGICAL CURE. THE PRESENT CANVAS IS RICHER AND MORE COMPLEX THAN THE SMALLER OIL. WHILST STILL CONCENTRATING ON THE POWERFUL IMAGE OF THE HEALER, DEUTSCH HERE IS ALSO INTERESTED IN DEPICTING THE REACTIONS OF A MORE DIVERSE CROWD, CAPTURING THE ATMOSPHERE OF THIS VIVID EGYPTIAN SCENE.
SEE ALSO NOTE TO LOT 68.