Narcisse Berchère (1819-1891) - The Rest Of The Caravan - 19th Century - Orientalism

Very beautiful orientalist oil on wood by the French painter Narcisse Berchère (1819-1891) signed lower left. The painter here represents a caravan of camel drivers at rest. His paintings, by their undisputed quality and the light they reflect, make him a master of the Orientalist School. Sold with wooden frame and gilded stucco.

Dimensions without the frame: 17.7 cm x 14.5 cm.
Dimensions with the frame: 23 cm x 20 cm.

Good condition.

Painter, engraver and lithographer, Narcisse Berchère spent his childhood in the Etampes region where, lulled by the countryside, he cultivated the art of drawing very early and with passion. He made his debut at the Academy of Fine Arts in Paris in the studio of Théodore Rousseau and Corot. Under the influence of the painters of the Barbizon School, he travelled first in France, then from 1847, in Spain and the Middle East where his palette became lighter and richer. Between 1849 and 1850 he visited Egypt, Syria, Asia Minor, Turkey, Greece and Venice.

He had now found his way as an orientalist painter. In 1856, he spent two months in the Sinai with Léon Belly then visited Lower Egypt with his friends the painter Jean Léon Gérôme and the sculptor Bartholdi. In 1860, Ferdinand de Lesseps chose him as the official designer of the Suez Canal Company. Egypt was his favourite land.