Hippolyte Lazerges 1817- 1887 Pair Of Portraits Of African Missionaries

Hippolyte Lazerges
1817- Narbonne - 1887- Si Mustapha
Pair of African Missionary Portraits
Charcoal on paper Signed lower right
26 x 18.5 cm
Founded in 1868 by Cardinal Lavigerie.
They wear the white burnous and the large Algerian coat. A rosary is placed around her neck. They wear red cloth fez. Hippolyte Lazerges, born into a modest background, initially encountered resistance in his artistic approach. Influenced by his childhood in Algeria, he returned to Paris and first devoted himself to religious art. However, financial constraints led him to complete government commissions and religious murals. Lazerges' most remarkable work, "The Death of the Virgin", is in the Tuileries chapel. The turning point came in 1861, when he returned to Algeria and became a key figure in the Algiers Orientalist school. Alongside Sintès and Chataud, he pioneered a realistic and intimate representation of Moorish life, as evidenced by his Algerian café scenes. His contribution extends to mural paintings, notably to the life of Mary at Notre-Dame-de-Recouvrance in Orléans and to the beautification of the Saint-Laurent church. Lazerges' career highlights his importance as a precursor of the Orientalist style in painting, shaping a nuanced perspective on Algerian culture.