Lot 608: HENRI SAINTIN, FRENCH 1840 OR 1846-1899

VIEW OF THE ALGERIAN PAVILION AT THE EXPOSITION UNIVERSELLE, PARIS 1889

24.5 by 19cm., 9½ by 7½in.

signed and inscribed l.l.: Henri Saintin Ex. Universelle - 1889; stamped with artist's wax seal on the reverse

oil on panel

NOTE

The painting depicts the Le Palais Algérien at the Exposition Universelle 1889. Built by Albert Ballu and M. Emile Marquette, the palace had an interior of fantastical geometric patters and colourful windows. The minaret and the Kouba were inspired by the famous Sidi-Abd-er Rhaman mosque. Algeria was a colony of France at the time therefore the pavilion was built to show the benefits of French colonization. Though the majority of the fine art displayed in the pavilion was by French artists, there was authentic atmosphere, music and food which made it a very romantic place to visit, such that the admission price for entering the pavilion doubled after 6pm.