“Algerian Girl”
“Algerian Girl” is an oil on canvas portrait painting by the American artist, Frederick Arthur Bridgman, from 1888.
In 1872, while studying under Jean-Léon Gérôme in Paris, France, Frederick Arthur Bridgman took his first trip to Africa. He returned the following year and spent more time in North Africa. He traveled across Algeria and Egypt between the 1870s and 1880s. During these trips, he produced a large number of sketches that he transformed in the studio into complete paintings.
These depictions of the seemingly exotic people and goods from far off lands were immediately well-received by both the public and art critics alike. In addition to sketches from his travels, Bridgeman also collected a variety of local goods and costumes that he used as props for his paintings. When he didn’t have a sketch in mind to paint, he would use the props to feed his imagination and artistic inspiration.
In “Algerian Girl”, notice the detail in her dress, her jewelry, the instrument on her lap, and the architecture in the background. All these details in combination with the soft and earthy colors of the overall piece are classic elements of the Orientalism style of art. Orientalism was popular at the same time as the Decorative Arts, Japonisme, and the Art Nouveau style. It must be noted that many today view the Orientalists as an unsavory relic of western imperialism.
In the travel article he wrote for Harper’s Monthly Magazine, Frederick Arthur Bridgman said, “Was it due to the fact of my having been born in Alabama, with sunlight in my bones, that I felt at home in Algeria when I first set foot on her genial soil in 1872? No sooner had I set foot on land than I began with joy to sniff the odors so peculiar to Oriental towns – perfumes of musk, tobacco, orange-blossoms, coffee, hashish – a subtle combination which impregnates Algerine clothing and hovers about the shops and bazaars”.
“Algerian Girl” is currently in a private collection.
For more on Frederick Arthur Bridgman, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
