Frederick Arthur Bridgman
Frederick Arthur Bridgman was an American artist who lived from 1847 to 1928. He is mostly remembered for his large-scale landscapes and history paintings which he created in the “Orientalism” art style.
Bridgman was born in Tuskegee, Alabama. As a very young child, he was drawn to art, and it became his first love. After the death of his father, and in an attempt to avoid the upcoming American Civil War, his family relocated north to New York. He soon became employed as an engraver working for the American Bank Note Company in New York City. During his spare time, he began taking evening classes to study art at both the National Academy of Design and the Brooklyn Art Association. Bridgeman very much enjoyed his artistic studies and soon made the decision to pursue his art full time. In 1866 at 19 years old, he relocated to France to continue his art education. Initially, he spent time at Pont Aven, an artist’s colony made famous by artists such as Paul Gauguin.
The following year, he moved to Paris where he studied at the prestigious Ecole des Beaux Arts where he studied under the well-known artist, Jean-Léon Gérôme. It was from Gérôme that Bridgman’s love for the exotic and his “Orientalist” art subjects flourished. He soon became one of Gérôme’s favorite pupils, and by 1868, he had exhibited at the prestigious Paris Salon. By 1870, Bridgeman permanently relocated to France. 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 1872, Bridgman took his first trip south 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 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”.
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 addition to his depictions of modern day setting in North Africa, he also created history paintings of famous scenes or people in the same Orientalism style.
In 1907, Bridgman was honored with the title of an officer of the Légion d’Honneur, the highest title in France that can be bestowed to artists. Frederick Arthur Bridgeman died in 1928 at 80 years old after a long and successful career.
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