19th Century, The Stop

19th century
The stop
Oil on canvas, cm 50 x 65
With frame, cm 75 x 90
Signed and dated on the bottom left

Orientalism, an artistic movement born in Europe between the 18th and 19th centuries, is characterized by its fascination for the cultures and atmospheres of the East, In particular, the Middle East and northern Asia. Oil paintings, watercolours and engravings captured exotic landscapes, vibrant cities, fascinating costumes and scenes of everyday life, often filtered through a romantic and idealized lens.
The interest in the East in Europe has its roots in much more distant times, fueled by trade, crusades and exploratory trips. In the eighteenth century, this fascination intensified, thanks to the influence of literary texts such as "A Thousand and One Nights" and a greater knowledge of oriental cultures. Thus was born the Orientalism, which aims to represent this distant world pictorially, often with a vein of exoticism and fantasy.
Camels and men seek refreshment from the heat of the desert, sheltering in the shade of trees, at the water source or under the pergola of the building. In the background, a view of a city dominated by a minaret.
The enigmatic composition is the most detailed of a subject that had considerable diffusion among the orientalist painters. See the examples of Henry van Wijk (1833- 1889) and Narcisse Berchere ( 1819 - 1891)

The object is in good condition