Orientalist School c.1940 - Portrait of an Arab Man in Traditional Dress

Decorative and atmospheric oil on board portrait of an Arab gentleman in traditional dress. The handsome bearded sitter stands full length wearing a highly detailed costume which is comprised of a white belted robe over ceremonial dress and jewellery. This is completed by and expansive gold embroidered head covering which extends beyond his waist. The artist presents his subject in motion, mid step, with his eyes cast downwards in reflective mood.

Orientalist works such as this which depicted visions of the East by artists of the West are an increasingly popular genre of portraiture.

The birth of Orientalism coincided with the Romantic age when European painters of the 19th century — from England, France and Germany especially — visited the areas we now know as the Near East, Middle East and North Africa. The resulting exotic paintings of markets, mosques and harems tapped into a growing fascination with travel and far-off, exotic lands, which had previously been beyond the comprehension of the average European.

Orientalist painters, closely studied the different ethnic, religious and social groups of the Middle East and North Africa and they often focussed on clothing as we see here. This was no doubt a response to the fashionable new practices of photography and ethnography.

European visitors to the Middle East and North Africa were also often depicted in local dress, perhaps as a genuine attempt at cross-cultural existence or simply to experience the 'unusual' and different.

This highly decorative and atmospheric work is in an excellent state of conservation and is housed in a simple gilt wood frame with a wonderful mellow gold patina.

Board: 24” x 19” / 61cm x 48cm. Framed: 27” x 22” / 69cm x 56cm.