A Jewess of Morocco: Costume de Fête
Artist
Charles Émile Hippolyte Lecomte-Vernet
(French, 1821 - 1900)
CultureFrench
Date1868
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions50 3/4 x 34 1/4 in. (128.9 x 87 cm)
Overall, Frame: 66 1/2 x 50 x 4 in. (168.9 x 127 x 10.2 cm)
Overall, Frame: 66 1/2 x 50 x 4 in. (168.9 x 127 x 10.2 cm)
InscribedSigned and dated lower left: "Vernet LeComte" "1868".
MarkingsPaper label: The property of Guy Fitch (?) lent to the gallery of the home
Markings on stretcher:12-4-97=6, 3259
Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Object number71.2059
Collections
On View
Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 217
Label TextCharles-Emile-Hippolyte Lecomte-Vernet French (1821-1900) A Jewess of Morocco: Costume de Fête, 1868 Oil on canvas, 50 3/4 x 34 1/4 in. Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.2059 In the decades following Napoleon's Egyptian campaign (1798-99), Europeans became increasingly fascinated by the rich and still mysterious Islamic cultures of the East, prompting many to travel there for a closer look. In their quest for new and exotic experiences, artists, too, journeyed to North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean, or Holy Land-a vast, ethnically diverse region that Europeans described simply as the Orient. Returning home, many artists specialized in romantic depictions of Moroccan, Egyptian, and Near Eastern life, fueling the European taste for "Orientalist" art. The Parisian painter Lecomte-Vernet made the journey at least once, in 1863, and devoted much of his later career to images of beautiful North African women in elaborate, ceremonial dress. His seductive, brilliant-hued Jewess of Morocco is a striking example. ProvenanceH. Galka, Inc., New York, NY; Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.; Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. to the Chrysler Museum, 1971.Exhibition History"Art Pompier: Anti-Impressionism, 19th Century French Salon Painting," The Emily Lowe Gallery, Hofstra University, Hempstead, Long Island, N.Y., October 22 - December 15, 1974. "Behind the Seen: The Chrysler's Hidden Museum," Large Changing Gallery, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., October 21, 2005 - February 19, 2006. "Europe's Exoticized East," Art Gallery of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, May 22 - September 6, 2010. “Marvels and Mirages of Orientalism: Benjamin-Constant in His Time,” The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, January 26 – June 7, 2015. “Near East to Far West: Fantasies of French and American Colonialism," Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO, March 5 – May 28, 2023. Published References_Art Pompier: Anti-Impressionism 19th Century French Salon Painting_, exh. cat., Emily Lowe Gallery, Hempstead, New York, 1974, no. 62. Patrick Shaw Cable, _Europe's Exoticized East_, exh. cat., Art Gallery of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, 2010, 46, pl.29. Nathalie Bondil, _Benjamin-Constant: Marvels and Mirages of Orientalism_ (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014) fig. 175. Jennifer R. Henneman, ed., _Near East to Far West: Fictions of French and American Colonialism_, exh. cat., Denver Art Museum in association with Yale University Press, New Haven, 2023, 69, cat. 19.
