Lot 6
  • 6

Eugène Girardet

Estimate
150,000 - 200,000 GBP
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Description

  • Eugène Girardet
  • Evening Prayers
  • signed Eugène Girardet lower left
  • oil on canvas
  • 73 by 100cm., 28¾ by 39in.

Provenance

Estate of the artist (sale: Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 20 March 1908, lot 71)

Exhibited

Nantes, Huitième exposition de la Société des amis des arts de Nantes, 1897, no. 115
Paris, Exposition Universelle, 1900, no. 81

Condition

The canvas has not been lined. There is a pattern of hairline craquelure throughout, however not distracting. Ultra-violet light reveals some scattered retouching, including: - clusters of retouching in the sky and in the right framing edge; - strokes of retouching in the left framing edge; - three circa 5cm vertical strokes across the man in the brown cape in the centre of the composition; and - one small stroke just beneath the signature. A portion of the signature also appears to have been strengthened when inspected under UV. Otherwise, this work presents very well and none of the above mentioned retouching is visible to the naked eye. This work is ready to hang. Presented in a decorative gilt frame.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

Scenes of prayer occupy a central position in nineteenth-century Orientalist art. Evening Prayers is not only a splendid evocation of the North African desert, but affords a fascinating glimpse into the rituals of Muslim worship. In the cool shade cast by the building behind them, a group of men on a rooftop face Mecca in prayer. The initial invocation to God, or takhbir, performed standing, is over. Two of the men remain on their feet but are about to join the two figures nearest the viewer to sit upright in a brief moment of reflection before the sujud or prostration - already being performed by the two farthest figures - during which the forehead is reverently placed to the ground.  Girardet hailed from an artistic Swiss family, and even before his teacher Jean-Léon Gérôme encouraged him to visit North Africa he had long been inspired to travel by his uncles Karl and Edouard, who had journeyed to, and painted, Egypt; and from his father Paul, who had engraved episodes of the colonial war in Algeria after Horace Vernet. In 1874, Girardet embarked for Morocco, then travelled to Tunisia and Algeria, for which he developed a particular fondness. He spent subsequent visits in Algiers and Boghari, but above all in El Kantara and Bou-Saâda, in the foothills of the Saharan Atlas, painting scenes of daily life like the present one.