Frederick Arthur Bridgman American, 1847-1928

Paris, Salon, 1888, no. 381
Munich, III. Internationale Kunstausstellung, 1888, no. 7222, as Sommerabend, received gold medal
New York, Fifth Avenue Galleries, Pictures and Studies by F. A. Bridgman, 1890, no. 160, as Summer Evening (Salon of 1888)
Chicago, Art Institute, Pictures and Studies by F.A. Bridgman, 1890, no. 113 as Summer Evening (Salon of 1888)

Soir d'été is among Bridgman's finest and most important Algerian-inspired works. Exhibited to critical acclaim at the 1888 Paris Salon, it went on to win a gold medal at the Munich International Art Exhibition the same year.

Ever since his first visit to North Africa in 1872, Algiers captivated Bridgman's imagination, and became his favourite destination during his travels in the region. During the 1880s he put up his wife and family in the Hôtel de l'Orient in the Mustapha Supérieur quarter, and hired a guide, Belkassem, to find him an entrée into private houses to watch and paint the life of Algerian women. 

The present work is hypnotically free and sensual in its execution, and in this respect marks a break from the teachings of his master, Jean-Léon Gérôme. The figure is less academically stylized than in his early work, and observed en plein-air rather than the confines of a studio. The full-length, life-size standing figure is rare in Bridgman’s oeuvre and the atmospheric, soft twilight introduces a theme that he will explore in future works.

Bridgman’s Soir d'été reveals a hidden Algeria, not of barren, yellow sands, but of exotic flowers and billowing silks. The eye is transported through a symphony of inviting textures, from the rich feathered fan, to the girl's delicate lightly veiled skin and billowing pantaloons. Her dark, languid eyes and headdress complete this sensual composition.

This painting will be included in the Bridgman catalogue raisonné being prepared by Dr Ilene Susan Fort.