View full screen - View 1 of Lot 42. Camels Watering in the Desert.

Property from an American Private Collection

Jean-Léon Gérôme

Camels Watering in the Desert

Auction Closed

October 25, 11:11 AM GMT

Estimate

20,000 - 30,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

Property from an American Private Collection

Jean-Léon Gérôme

French

1824 - 1904

Camels Watering in the Desert


signed J.L. GEROME. lower left

oil on canvas

Unframed: 34.5 by 56cm., 13½ by 22in.

Framed: 45.7 by 67.3cm., 18 by 26½in.


We are grateful to Dr Emily M. Weeks for her assistance in cataloguing this work which will be included in her revision of the artist's catalogue raisonné by Gerald M. Ackerman.

John Beard Jackson, Pittsburgh (1845-1908, 'one of the best known men of Pittsburgh', served in many roles including: President of the Fidelity Title and Trust Company, former President of the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce and the State Bankers' Association. He dedicated his life to making Pittsburgh greater through his service and philanthropy); thence by descent to the present owner
This newly discovered, evocative work, painted after 1883, captures the calm of evening in a village on the Nile, likely on the outskirts of Cairo. The scene appears to be set either in July or August, when the river rises, or in October or November, when it begins to recede, judging by the flood level on the Nile plain. With great mastery and a director's eye for narrative, Gérôme evokes the utter stillness and loneliness of the desert air. As the harsh heat of the day has subsided, and the cool evening sets in, a troop of camels and their driver, their hard day’s work done, drink from the pooled water.