Lot 223: ALPHONSE XAVIER MONCHABLON, FRENCH 1835-1907

ODALISQUE TURQUE

160x100cm., 63x39 1/2 in.

signed and dated

oil on canvas

NOTE

Jan-Baptiste Vanmour was among the first artists living in Constantinople to be commissioned by members of the European community there to paint their portraits in Turkish dress. When these diplomats and travellers returned home, many brought back Oriental costumes, starting a true vogue for all things Turkish. The trend gained momentum in 1714, when the French ambassador to Constantinople, Charles de Ferriol, published what were to be the most popular and influential of all illustrated Ottoman Empire costume plates, containing engravings by Le Hay after pictures by Vanmour. In Paris, turqueries became all the rage, a fashion that continued well into the nineteenth century, fuelled by Napoleon's Egyptian campaign and, latterly, by novels like Pierre Loti's hugely popular fictional autobiography Aziyadé of 1877, the purportedly true account of his love for a Circassian woman. Monchablon was among the artists in demand by the bourgeoisie eager to have them paint their portraits à l'orientale.