Turkish men, Giovanni Jean BRINDESI (1826 - 1888)

Giovanni Jean BRINDESI
1826 - 1888 Istanbul

Technique:
Original watercolor on cardboard, reproduced in the book: BRINDESI, Jean. Souvenirs de Constantinople, Paris, [Imp.Lemercier, 1845].

Dimensions:
29 x 22 cm unframed - 41 x 34 cm framed

The watercolor depicts a harem scene with three women. The maid is standing, dressed in a brightly colored traditional garment, serving another woman who is seated smoking a long pipe. In the background, a third woman is seated, next to a table containing a Baglama (a long, 3-stringed guitar) also known as a Saz.
The setting resembles an intimate interior, with intricate details in the clothing and surroundings, suggesting an Orientalist style often seen in 19th-century European art.


Giovanni Jean Brindesi (1826-1888) began his career as a watercolorist and lived in Istanbul during the reign of Abdul Mecit (1831-1861). His main work consisted of depicting scenes from the city's public, private and military life. His workshop was in the Pera district and his tomb is in the Catholic cemetery in the Feriköy district. His paintings were lithographed by the Lemercier publishing house in Paris and published in two albums (1855-1860). The first album presents a series of costumes, mainly of Ottoman officials, and the second scenes from daily life in Istanbul. Brindesi's original drawings are preserved in the Topkapi Palace Museum and at Istanbul University.

In the 19th century, Orientalism, an artistic and literary movement marked by the cult of mystery and exoticism in the East, offered the Western European public a rich source of entertainment and leisure. Leading and lesser-known artists created graphic works, either from their own imagination or following a trip to the Orient, often rendering exaggerated and idealized images of people and places.

The present work, “Souvenirs de Constantinople”, which has only been published once, includes picturesque snapshots of life in the Ottoman capital, its environs and Bursa. Of particular interest are the depictions of vehicles, such as carriages. Although he didn't leave many works, Brindesi is one of the most remarkable figures of Orientalism.

Brindesi's drawings were published in color lithographs by several other artists, including Ch. Bour, Hadamard, J. Gaildrau, A. Charpentier, Gilbert, Bayot, Schultz and Sorrieu.