Saharan Dwelling, Biskra District, Algeria
Artist
Gustave Achille Guillaumet
(French, 1840 - 1887)
CultureFrench
Date1882
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions57 1/2 × 68 1/4 in. (146.1 × 173.4 cm)
Overall, Frame: 63 × 73 5/8 × 3 in. (160 × 187 × 7.6 cm)
Overall, Frame: 63 × 73 5/8 × 3 in. (160 × 187 × 7.6 cm)
InscribedSigned and dated at LL: "G. Guillaumet `82"
MarkingsPaper label: Arthur Lenars, Paris #82
Paper label: Portovault, NY, Chrysler 10624 3/22
Paint on stretcher: MAB 1336
Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Object number71.655
On View
Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 102
Label TextGustave Achille Guillaumet French (1840-1887) Saharan Dwelling, Biskra District, Algeria, 1882 Oil on canvas Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.655 The Parisian painter Gustave Guillaumet visited Algeria in 1862 and was so taken with the country that he returned nine times. To discover the true Algeria, he traveled south to remote desert outposts like Bou Saada and Biskra, far from European influence. There he portrayed the bleak poverty of the desert people with dignity and compassion, depicting them in their woolen tents or rough, yellow-clay houses. In the painting here, a poor desert family goes about their daily chores-grinding grain, spinning, and milking-in their clay-walled abode. As the painting reveals, Guillaumet was a genius at capturing the dusty light and atmosphere of Algeria's sun-struck desert and cool, shadowed interiors. Guillaumet's deep commitment to North African subject matter marked him as an Orientalist. Yet while early French Orientalist painters like Eugene Delacroix stressed the romantic allure of North Africa, later artists like Guillaumet offered a more balanced and realistic assessment of contemporary Arab life. Illustration Caption: Eugène Delacroix (French, 1798-1863) Arab Horseman Giving a Signal, 1851 Oil on canvas Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 83.588 ProvenanceHakim; Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., 1960 or before; Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. to the Chrysler Museum, 1971.Exhibition History"French Paintings 1789-1929 from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Dayton Art Institute, March 25 - May 22, 1960. (Exhib. cat. no. 46). "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. "Biskra: Sortilèges d'une Oasis (Vision of an Oasis," Institute du Monde Arabe, Paris (9/22/16 - 1/22/17), Musée des Beaux-Arts La Rochelle, (5/18 - 8/18), Muséee des Beaux-Arts Limoges (9/18 - 1/19), Musée La Piscine, Roubaix (2/19-5/19), Musée des Beaux-Arts Agen (6/19-9/19).Published References_Salon de 1882_, Paris, #1260. _G. Guillaument_, Paris (Ecole des Beaux-Arts), 1888, #17. G. Guillaumet, _Tableaux Algeriens_, Paris, 188, illustrated p. 178. R. Muther, _The History of Modern Painting_, New York, 1907, II, p. 137. Priscilla C. Colt and Charles H. Elam, _French Paintings 1789-1929 from the collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr._, exh. cat, Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, Oh., 1960, no. 46. _Art Pompier: Anti-Impressionism 19th Century French Salon Painting_, exh. cat., Emily Lowe Gallery, Hofstra University, New York, 1974, no. 55. Dennis R. Anderson, "Chrysler Art On Loan," Chrysler Museum Bulletin, Vol. 3, No. 11, December 1974. D. Rosenthal, _Orientalism, The Near East in French Painting 1800-1880_, Memorial Art Gallery of the Unviersity of Rochester, 1982, p. 91. Lynne Thornton, _The Orientalists: Painter-Travellers, 1828-1908_ (Paris: ACR Edition Internationale, 1983), p. 146. Patrick Shaw Cable, _Europe's Exoticized East_, exh. cat., Art Gallery of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, 2010, 28, pl.12. Roger Benjamin, _Biskra: Sortilèges d'une Oasi_, exh. cat., Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France, 2017, p. 91. ISBN: 978-9931-361-55-8.
