Lot 54: Stanislaus von Chlebowski (Polish, 1835-1884)

A Musician playing before a Mosque in Constantinople
signed 'St. Chlebowski' (lower right)
oil on board
16 x 10 3/4 in. (40.6 x 27.3 cm.)

Stanislaus von Chlebowski attended the academy of St. Petersburg, and continued his studies in Munich and in Paris where he was a student under Jean-Léon Gérôme. In 1864 Chlebowski was invited to serve as a royal painter in the court of Sultan Abdulaziz (1861-1876) and left for Constantinople. Other notable artists serving in the Sultan's court at the time were Ivan Constantinovitsch Aivazovsky and Pierre Désiré Guillemet. Chlebowski remained in the city until 1876 and painted a number of canvases depicting various episodes of Turkish History which are now housed in the Dolmabahce Museum, Istanbul. After a short stay in Paris (1876-1880), Chlebowski moved to Krakow and remained there until his death in 1884. The Museum in Krakow houses some of his other important Orientalist works such as Entrée de Mahomet II á Stamboul.

A Musician playing before a Mosque in Constantinople is an intimate piece like many of Gérôme's compositions handling similar subject matters of exotically dressed archetypes, such as Arnauts, Bashi-Bazouks, valets and eunuchs. The architectural background is a particularly typical example of 17th Century Ottoman architecture complete with fountain as well as mosque walls topped with wrought-iron metal work.