Benjamin-constant (1845 - 1902) - Portrait Of An Oriental Woman - Oil On Canvas

This Portrait of an oriental woman perfectly illustrates the production of Benjamin-Constant during the first part of his career, devoted to Orientalism. After several trips to Spain and Morocco, this painter made himself known from the 1870s thanks to compositions inspired by Moroccan scenes or Byzantine history, before redirecting his career towards large decorations and portraits from from 1890 to adapt to changing tastes.
If unsigned, this painting is characteristic of Benjamin-Constant's work in every respect. As in many of his portraits, the treatment is meticulous for the face and looser for the bust, the clothes, the accessories and the background, quickly brushed and which seem to have as their main vocation to highlight the face. The palette of the painter, a talented colorist, is concentrated on warm tones, skilfully mixing flamboyant red with a variation of ochres ranging from golden to dark brown.
The young woman appears in other works by the artist, who painted most of his Orientalist canvases from his Paris studio, dressing his models in costumes and accessories brought back from his travels. In particular, she lent her features to the characters in several paintings made in the 1880s; as for the portrait of the Byzantine Empress Theodora, a huge canvas that Benjamin-Constant exhibited at the Salon in 1887, now kept at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Argentina.