Excursion of the Harem
Artist
Jean-Léon Gérôme
(French, 1824-1904)
CultureFrench
Date1869
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions31 × 53 in. (78.7 × 134.6 cm)
Overall, Frame: 47 5/8 × 70 × 6 5/8 in. (121 × 177.8 × 16.8 cm)
Overall, Frame: 47 5/8 × 70 × 6 5/8 in. (121 × 177.8 × 16.8 cm)
InscribedSigned on the stern of the boat: "J.L. GEROME".
Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Object number71.511
Collections
On View
Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 216
Label TextJean-Léon Gérôme French, 1824–1904 Excursion of the Harem, 1869 Oil on canvas At first glance, Jean-Léon Gérôme’s glassy rendering of Egypt’s fabled Nile River may seem as frozen as an insect trapped in amber. But look again. Gérôme has filled the scene with travelers in motion. While a sultan’s pleasure boat ferries his harem along the river, a camel caravan threads its way along the distant shore and a flock of birds crosses overhead. All the elements are orchestrated perfectly—a consonance of details where, even in motion, everything is put in exactly the right place. One of France’s most admired academic masters, Gérôme prided himself on paintings of extraordinary precision filled with delicate and poetic details. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.511 ProvenanceE. Pinkus, New York, 1963; Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.; Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. to the Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, 1971. Exhibition HistorySalon, Paris, 1869. (Exhib. cat. no. 1027). "Art Pompier: Anti-Impressionism," Emily Lowe Gallery, Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York, Oct. 22 - Dec. 15, 1974. (Exhib. cat. no. 46). "Treasures from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk and Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Tennessee Fine Arts Center at Cheekwood, Nashville, June 12 - Sept. 5, 1977. (Exhib. cat. no. 34). "Veronese to Franz Kline: Masterworks from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk," for the benefit of The Chrysler Museum Art Reference Library, Wildenstein & Co., New York, N. Y., April 13 - May 13, 1978. (Exhib. cat. no. 15). "Eastern Encounters: Orientalist Painters of the Nineteenth Century," Fine Art Society, London, June 26 - July 28, 1978. (Exhib. cat. no. 109). "French Salon Paintings from Southern Collections," High Museum of Art, Atlanta; Chrysler Museum, Norfolk; North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh; and John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota; Jan. 21 - Oct. 23, 1983. (Exhib. cat. no. 34). "French Paintings from The Chrysler Museum," North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, May 31 - September 14, 1986; Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama, November 6, 1986 - January 18, 1987. (Exhib. cat. no. 26). "American Impressionism and Realism: The Painting of Modern Life, 1885-1915", The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, May 10 - July 24, 1994; the Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, TX, August 21 - October 30, 1994; The Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO, December 3, 1994 - February 5, 1995; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, March 12 - May 14, 1995. (Exhib. cat. no. 23). "Homage to Theo van Gogh," Van Gogh Museum, June 24 - September 5, 1999; Musee d'Orsay, September 27, 1999 - January 9, 2000. (Exhib. cat. no. 61). "Jean-Léon Gérôme: 1824-1904," Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France, October 18, 2010 - January 23, 2011. "A Revolution in Art: Paris 1863–1874: From Salon to Impressionism," Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud, Cologne, Germany, March 15 - July 28, 2024. Published ReferencesEric M. Zafran and Mario Amaya. _Treasures from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk and Walter P. Chrysler, Jr._. Tennessee Fine Arts Center at Cheekwood, Nashville. 1977. No. 34. *See for further references. Eric M. Zafran and Mario Amaya. _Veronese to Franz Kline: Masterworks from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk_. Norfolk, VA: The Chrysler Museum. 1978. No. 15. *See for further references. Mario Amaya. "Contrasts and Comparisons in French Nineteenth Century Painting," _Apollo_ 107: 194. 04/1978: 16-25, ill. Eric M. Zafran, with an introductory essay by Gerald M. Ackerman. _French Salon Paintings from Southern Collections_. Atlanta, GA: The High Museum of Art. 1982. No. 34. *See for further references. Chrysler Museum. _Selections from the Permanent Collection: The Chrysler Museum_. Norfolk, VA: Chrysler Museum of Art. 1982: 60. H. Barbara Weinberg. "The Lure of Paris: Late-Nineteenth-Century American Painters and their French Training," _A New World: Masterpieces of American Painting_. 1760-1910. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts. 1983: Mentioned 25; ill. 26, fig. 8. William H. Gerdts. _American Impressionism_. New York: Abbeville Press. 1984: 19, ill. no. 7. Jefferson C. Harrison. "Nineteenth-Century French Art - Part I," _The Chrysler Museum Gallery Guide_. Norfolk, VA: Chrysler Museum. 1985. No. 13, 6, ill. Jefferson C. Harrison, _French Paintings from the Chrysler Museum_. Norfolk, VA: The Chrysler Museum, 1986, No. 26., pp. 51-53; Color Plate No. 26, 120. *See for further references. Gerald M. Ackerman, _The Life and Work of Jean-Leon Gerome_. London and NY: 1986, 226, no. 188. Atsushi Miura. "Le Japonisme au Salon," _Bijutsushi-Ronso (Studies in Art History)_. Tokyo: The Department of Art History, Faculty of Letters, The University of Tokyo. 1988: 80, fig. 11. H. Barbara Weinberg. _The Lure of Paris: Nineteenth-Century American Painters and their French Teachers_. New York: Abbeville Press Publishers. 1991:No. 76, 71 (b/w ill.). Gerald M. Ackerman. _American Orientalists. Acr Édition_. Paris. 1994: 16-18. Jefferson C. Harrison, _The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings_. Norfolk, VA: The Chrysler Museum, 1991, No. 99, 124; Color Plate, 124. Barbara Weinberg, et al. _American Impressionism and Realism: The Painting of Modern Life, 1885-1915_. NY: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Distributed by Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, 1994, 28-29; Fig. 23, 29 (b/w). Franklin Kelly, and others. _American Paintings of the Nineteenth Century_. Washington: National Gallery of Art, distributed by Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1996, 160, black and white ill. 160. Dianne W. Pitman. "The Figure in the Landscape." _Bazille Purity, Pose, and Paintings in the 1860s_. University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1998, 138, fig. 87. Chris Stolwijk and Richard Thomson. _The Van Gogh: Art Dealer, Collector and Brother of Vincent_. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam and Waanders Publishers, Zwolle. 1999: figure 61, pages 72-73. Gerald M. Ackerman, _Jean-Léon Gérôme: Monographie révisée Catalogue raisonné mis à jour_ (Paris: ACR Édition, 2000), 89, 270-271; fig. 188. Charles C. Eldredge, _Tales from the Easel: American Narrative Paintings from Southeastern Museums, circa 1800-1950_, exh. cat., Southeastern Art Museum Directors Consortium, Columbus Museum, Ga., 2004, 63, fig. 36. Jeff Harrison, _Collecting with Vision: Treasures From the Chrysler Museum of Art_ (London: D. Giles Ltd., 2007), 43, fig. 39. Dominique de Font-Réaulx, _Jean-Léon Gérôme_, exh. cat., Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France, 2010, 231-233, cat. 129. Heather Grange, _Write Poetry? I Don't Think So_ (Plymouth, UK: privately printed, 2013) cover, 24. Eric M. Zafran, "Norfolk's Salon Masterworks Shine Again," _Fine Art Connoisseur_, November-December 2014, 51. Markku Valkonen and Pekka Niemela, _Vaelluksia maisemaan-- Taiteen mestarit meren aarella_, (Helsinki: John Nurmisen Saatio, 2017), pg. 42. Lawrence Benaïm, _Orientalism Style_ (New York: Assouline, 2022) 212-213.
Alexander Gardner
January 1864
