Alfred Dehodencq (1822 - 1882) - Preparatory Sketch For épouse Juive Au Maroc, 1867

Alfred Dehodencq (1822 - 1882)
Preparatory sketch for Épouse juive au Maroc, 1867
Pencil on paper
6 x 6,9 inch.

Alfred Dehodencq, an orientalist painter, started his courses at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts of Paris in the workshop of Léon Cogniet. He will become the favorite student of the master. He admires romantic artists and in particular the painters Théodore Géricault and Eugène Delacroix. After the Revolution of 1848, Alfred Dehodencq travels to Spain and then goes to Morocco. He will live this journey as a revelation that will deeply impact his work.  

Touched by colors and ambient light, he turns out to be very inspired by what he sees: flea markets, processions, bullfights, and bohemians. As a talented colorist, he expresses with frenzy the sparkle of orientalist scenes with a realistic sense of physiognomies and costumes.  As he is also an author of genre scenes, a number of his paintings represent traditions of Jewish north-African society. In front of these new beauties, he realizes many sketches, sometimes full of movement, framing the composition, sometimes simpler, modeling figures with detail. Indeed, Alfred Dehodencq is not only a remarkable painter but also a sophisticated draftsman. Théodore de Banville said, “He has the sense of expressive drawing”. His drawings are now kept in several museum collections across the world (France, Spain, USA, Algeria).

The hand’s study that we display is preparatory to an orientalist oil on canvas realized in 1867 and currently kept in the Reims Museum of Fine Arts: Jewish Spouse in Morocco. This is a study of the young woman’s left hand, showing his wedding ring. She is represented on her wedding’s day, dressed with a rich traditional red and golden costume and wearing heavy jewels

Public collections 
Paris, Musée du Louvre
Paris, Musée d’Orsay
Lyon, Musée des Beaux-Arts
Dijon, Musée Magnin
Lille, Palais des Beaux-Arts
Bordeaux, Musée des Beaux-Arts
Washington DC, National Gallery

Main solo exhibition
Rétrospective Alfred Dehodencq, Paris, Salon des Peintres Orientalistes, 1895