Charles Wilda

Born in Vienna in 1854, Charles Wilda trained at the Vienna Academy under Leopold Carl Müller. The prestigious academy produced many of the finest Orientalist painters, among them Jean Discart, Rudolf Ernst, and Ludwig Deutsch. Like many of his fellow painters, he travelled to Egypt in the early 1880s and set up a studio in Cairo where he developed a keen interest in depicting everyday Egyptian life. He also had a studio in Paris with his friend Arthur von Ferraris on Boulevard de Clichy.

In this painting, Wilda depicts a guard seated on marble steps. In the same year, Wilda painted another slightly larger oil work titled The doorkeeper of the Harem, the guard instead standing and looking alert. These two examples exemplify the interest many artists had, but particularly the Austrian school of Orientalists, in portraying sentinel figures. Ludwig Deutsch also made a series depicting palace and harem guards, for example The Nubian Guard, sold in these rooms, 22 October 2019, lot 31, formerly in the Najd Collection.

This small panel appears deceptively simple however clearly visible is Wilda’s talent at rendering expression, clothing, anatomy, and intricate detail; for example he expertly captures the reflections in the marble steps, the light glinting off the blue Chinese vase, the guard’s arm and face and the elaborate details of the gilt dagger. The protected entrance is shrouded in shadow which brings some intrigue to the scene. To the left, panels of woodwork are inlaid with mother-of-pearl, as is the handle on the guard’s rifle. Bright red pigments and dulled gold and pink tones are also placed throughout. This repetition and the similar angle of the pipe and cactus arms in comparison to the rifle and dagger handle – lends the composition balance. This engaging work demonstrates both Wilda’s technical and compositional skills.

Wilda exhibited widely in Vienna and Berlin, and at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1900 where he was awarded a bronze medal. In the year of his death, the Künstlerhaus in Vienna honoured him with his first retrospective.