Two Studies of a Seated Arab with a Pipe
1820–60
Medium
Black and white chalk, charcoal, traces of graphite on light brown paper; some stumping
Dimensions
Sheet: 11 5/8 x 18 1/2 in. (29.5 x 47cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Spencer Samuels, in memory of Mitchell Samuels, 1991
Accession Number
1991.465
Tags
Art Historical Context
Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps, a leading French Romantic painter of the nineteenth century, created *Two Studies of a Seated Arab with a Pipe* during the height of European Orientalism. Active between 1820 and 1860, Decamps traveled extensively in North Africa and the Middle East, capturing scenes that fascinated Western audiences with their exoticism and everyday detail. This sheet reflects his deep interest in Arab life, rendered here through two related poses of a single figure. Executed in black and white chalk, charcoal, and graphite on light brown paper, the drawing demonstrates Decamps’s m...
About the Artist
Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps · 1803–1860
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