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"Colossi of Memnon, Egypt" Rare Orientalist Landscape Painting

Creator: F.A. Bridgman
Offered by: Solomon Treasure

Description
"Colossi of Memnon, Egypt" Rare Orientalist Landscape Painting by Frederick Arthur Bridgman (American, 1847-1928)

A wonderful oil on canvas painting by American orientalist painter Frederick Arthur Bridgman depicting The Colossi of Memnon - two large stone statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III, who reigned in Egypt during the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. The statues are located in Thebes.

This rare work was painted on Bridgman's first trip to the Middle East which span from 1872 - 1874. In the time Bridgman worked mostly "plein air" - painting on the spot. He also executed views of the ruins at Abu Simbel in the same year. This is the only known work from this time that was executed at Thebes. Signed lower right.

Canvas: 12" high x 17" wide
Frame: 18" high x 23" wide

A similar example was sold: Christies 19TH CENTURY EUROPEAN ART AND ORIENTALIST ART, 23 Oct 2007, Lot 80 ($97,000)

In very good condition, ready to hang no damages noted. Relined, c. 1950.

Frederick Bridgman started out in 1863 as an engraver for the American Banknote Company and went on to produce steel engravings. He went to Paris in 1866 and worked in Gérome's studio at the École des Beaux-Arts. He spent time in Brittany at Pont-Aven until 1871, before going to North Africa and Egypt in 1872 and remaining there for five years. He took part regularly in the Paris Salons, notably the Salon des Artistes Français and the Salon of the Société Coloniale des Artistes Français. He also exhibited in London at the Royal Academy and the Suffolk Street Gallery. Bridgman exhibited at the Exposition Universelle of 1878, 1889 and 1900, receiving a silver medal at each of the exhibitions. He was decorated with the Légion d'Honneur in 1878 and was made Officier in 1907. He became a member of the National Academy, New York, in 1881, and of the Société des Artistes Peintres, Paris.

Bridgman's travels in North Africa and Egypt brought about a radical change in his palette, which became much paler. He was also a photographer and often worked from his photographs when painting, depicting a world of richly adorned women in veils and using transparent effects and white on white. As well as his scenes of everyday life, Bridgman also painted historical subjects from Ancient Egypt and Assyria, such as Pharaoh Crossing the Red Sea and Royal Entertainment at Nineveh. A cultivated man, Bridgman studied musical composition with Charles-Marie Widor and wrote several books on art. In New York in 1890, he published Winters in Algiers, which he illustrated with his paintings.