Edouard Frédéric Wilhelm Richter (1844-1913), Still Life

Édouard Frédéric Wilhelm RICHTER (1844-1913), Still Life Oil on canvas, 54 x 65 cm

Signed and dated 1868,

Painted in 1868, a year in which he participated once again since the 1866 Salon, he also made a name for himself in 1870 with the exhibition of his “Mephistopheles”. Still at the beginning of his career, the artist, who would become famous for his Orientalist works, already demonstrated remarkable mastery of color. A student of Ernest HÉBERT (1817-1908) and Léon BONNAT (1833-1922), he had already distinguished himself two years earlier, at the 1866 Salon, with another Still Life. This work, of great luminosity, announces the dazzling refinement that would characterize his future paintings. If his subject remains classical, the execution reveals a technical complexity that foreshadows his future Orientalism. Later, Richter would illustrate emblematic figures such as Judith and Salammbô, drawing inspiration from the stories of Nerval and Flaubert.