Description
This drawing is one of many in which Narcisse Berchère depicted the desert landscape of Egypt—which France had attempted to colonize just a few decades before. Here, a party of travelers walks through a flat and expansive space accompanied by camels. After studying in Paris, Berchère made his first of several trips to North Africa, which served as inspiration for much of his work.
Provenance
Shepherd Gallery, New York, NY; Mr. Noah L. Butkin [1918-1980] (1976-2008); Mrs. Muriel Butkin [1915-2008] (2008); the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 4, 2019)
Accession Number
2019.61
Medium
watercolor on wove paper
Dimensions
Sheet: 19.3 x 31 cm (7 5/8 x 12 3/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Credit Line
Bequest of Muriel Butkin
Tags
Drawing Impressionist & Modern (1851–1900) Watercolor Paper French
Background & Context
Background Story
Narcisse Berechere (1819-1891) was a French painter known for the precisely observed paintings of Middle Eastern and North African subjects that make him one of the most accomplished Orientalist painters of the 19th century. A Caravan in the Desert from the c. 1860s depicts a caravan in the desert in the precisely observed, atmospheric manner that distinguishes Berechere's best Orientalist work from the more exoticized painting of many of his contemporaries. The c. 1860s date places this in Berechere's most productive period, when he was producing the precisely observed Orientalist paintings that are his most accomplished works, based on his travels in the Middle East and North Africa.
Cultural Impact
A Caravan in the Desert is important in the history of French Orientalist painting because it demonstrates the precisely observed, atmospheric manner that Berechere brought to Middle Eastern and North African subjects. Berechere's precisely observed Orientalist paintings—based on firsthand observation of his travels in the Middle East and North Africa rather than exotic fantasy—represent one of the most accomplished traditions in French Orientalist painting, and the c. 1860s painting shows this tradition at its most precisely observed.
Why It Matters
A Caravan in the Desert is Berechere's precisely observed Orientalism: a caravan in the desert rendered in the atmospheric manner of one of the most accomplished Orientalist painters of the 19th century. The c. 1860s painting shows the combination of firsthand observation with atmospheric effect that makes Berechere's Orientalist paintings among the most accomplished in the tradition.
