EUGÈNE GIRARDET | Celebration in Biskra

Acquired by the father of the present owner in Zurich circa 1985; thence by descent

The canvas has been lined and is securely attached to a keyed wooden stretcher. Inspection under ultra-violet light reveals a small area of retouching in the sky between the palm trees in the upper left quadrant, possibly addressing an old repair. Some other scattered, finely applied lines of in-painting are visible, notably in the dogs, in the palm trees in the upper left and in some of the standing figures in the left of the composition. Otherwise, this work presents very well and is overall in good condition. 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."

Girardet depicts the fanfare surrounding a Berber or Touareg wedding. In the centre, five bridesmaids accompanied by musicians escort the ceremonial camel-borne hawdaj, or palanquin, bearing the bride to the arena outside the village to watch a celebratory fantasia, a traditional exhibition of horsemanship in the Maghreb.

Fellow artist Frederick Arthur Bridgman, who had also travelled to Biskra in the same years, described a local wedding as follows: 'The beating of drums, tam-tams, and tambourines, with the strident voices chanting in chorus in a high and minor key, the firing of guns and pistols, and the penetrating notes of the clarionets, announced the departure of the bride from her house. Superb trappings and housings completely concealed her, and the tall camel which bore her was almost hidden from sight by long fringes and enormous tassels slung across the animal's chest and dangling against its legs. Friends of the bride and groom pranced on horseback about the palanquin and round the gayly caparisoned horse of the young husband, playing the "fantasia", throwing their slender guns in the air and catching them, loading and firing again and again, leaving in their train a strong smell of powder'. (Frederick Arthur Bridgman, Winters in Algeria, New York, 1890, pp. 236-37) 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, Bou-Saâda, and Biskra in the foothills of the Saharan Atlas, painting scenes of daily life of which the present work is a prime example.