EUGÈNE FROMENTIN (1820-1876)
Jebel Ksel (2, 008 m - 6, 588ft )
Algeria
In Un Campement dans les Montagnes de l'Atlas, oil on canvas, (150 x 190 cm), ca. 1865,
The Walters Art Museum
About this painting
Prosper Dorbec in "
L'Hellénisme d'Eugène Fromentin" in the "
Gazette des Beaux-Arts" (1924) singled out Fromentin as a classicist among Orientalists. For the painter-writer, according to Dorbec, the desert and the ramparts of Aïn Mahdy became the plains of Ilium. In this spacious view, characteristic of the artist's production in the mid-sixties, the bold silhouettes of the horsemen, their generalized treatment and the essentially static composition reaffirm the classical character of Fromentin's painting. Shown are a group of Arabs examining a horse being displayed for sale.
A rather similar composition, "Horse Market in Algeria" 1867, appeared on the New York art market in 1913. Related studies include a view similar to the group of would-be purchasers in this scene, "Five Standing Arabs" 1874, The William Hayes Ackland Memorial Art Center; a smaller subject sold in the Verdé-Delisle Collection, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, May 29, 1879, no. 35; and a three-figured composition sold at the Hôtel Drouot, Paris, March 12, 1943, no. 26.
The painting above was acquired by William T. Walters, between 1878 and 1884
The mountain
Jebel Ksel (2.008 m - 6,588ft) ) is the highest of the six peaks of the Amour Range, located in the Algerian Atlas, which are Guern Arif, Mount Sidi Okba, Mount Gourou, Oum El Guedour, Kef Sidi Bouzid. Jebel Ksel summit is located 400 km south of Algiers, in the province of El Bayadh, in the north of the country. The largest city around is El Bayadh, located 13.2 km west of Djebel Ksel.
The Amour Range is a mountain range in Algeria, which comprises part of the Saharan Atlas of the Atlas Mountain System.
The Amour Range is located in the central area of the Saharan Atlas, with the Ksour Range in the western end and the Ouled-Naïl Rangein the eastern end.
The town of Aflou, one of the highest municipalities in Algeria and also one of the coldest, is located in the range at an elevation of 1,426 m. There are about 35,000 people living in the area of the Amour.
The painter
Brilliant student from a bourgeois family of La Rochelle, Eugene Fromentin is moving towards a career as a magistrate. In order not to disappoint paternal ambitions, he studies law in Paris. At the same time, he showed a great interest in the arts, notably painting and literature. In 1845, he even published a brilliant review of the Salon of 1845 in
"The Organic Review of the West" a literary journal of his friend Emile Beltremieux, as well as some poems. It then becomes obvious to the young man that law is not his vocation. Assisted by Charles Michel, a family friend, he manages to convince his father to let him follow artistic studies.
He thus enters the studio of Joseph Remond before integrating the following year that of Louis-Nicolas Cabat. Fromentin flourishes beside his new master, who introduces him to landscape painting. However, the young artist who wants to paint more exotic panoramas decides to visit Algeria. He arrived in Algiers in 1846, accompanied by his friend Armand du Mesnil, then went to Blida nicknamed "the city of roses". The artist is captivated by the charm of a warm and colorful nature.
Returning to Paris in 1847, he exhibited for the first time three paintings at the Salon of French Artists "Les Gorges de la Chiffa", " Une Mosquée près d'Alger" and " Une ferme dans les environs de La Rochelle" which immediately attract attention of connoisseurs and critics. Two years later, he received his first medal with the "Place de la Breche, Constantine", and in 1850 he exhibited eleven paintings, memories of his trip to Biskra. In 1852, he returned to Algeria accompanied by his wife, and this time he went to the desert to settle in Laghouat. During this stay, he made more than a hundred studies that will be the source of a fruitful production of orientalist works.
In 1857, he published his travelogues "Une année au Sahel" and "Un été au Sahara" in the Revue de Paris. This is the dedication for Fromentin who is recognized as a painter of talent but also as a great writer. After the publication of these two volumes, Theophile Gauthier writes "M. Fromentin has a privilege that I have not yet seen anyone possess to an equal degree! He has two muses: he is a painter in two languages. He is not an amateur in one or the other, he is the artist, conscientious, stern and fine in both ".
The mailings to the Salon of French Artists follow one another so much the work of the painter is prolix. The artist obtained many medals between 1859 and 1867. Classified out of competition and elevated to the rank of Officer of the Legion of Honor in 1869, Eugène Fromentin is recognized as one of the greatest Orientalist artists of his time.
In a jury report, Mr. Cador said: "M. Fromentin triumphs ... he has created a new genre in painting, as much as to say that he has discovered a world, his paintings falling under no tradition, no school; it is an original talent, in the good sense of the word, full of ardor and brilliance, which attracts and captivates by the powerful charm of its color, the grace of the details, by the poetic sentiment which overflows of all its compositions " .
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2019 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau
