Gustave Boulanger

The Tribute

Auction Closed

March 29, 02:21 PM GMT

Estimate

70,000 - 100,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

Property of a Gentleman

Gustave Boulanger

French

1824 - 1888

The Tribute

signed and dated G. Boulanger. 1871. lower right

oil on canvas

Unframed: 67 by 47cm., 26¼ by 18½in.

Framed: 97 by 78.5cm., 38 by 31in.

James H. Stebbins, New York
Mrs. Harold Thorne (sale: American Art Association, New York, 16 January 1917, lot 36)
Leo Platt
Property from the Estate of Helene M. Ulin, Brookline, Massachusetts (sale: Sotheby's, New York, 22 February 1989, lot 61)
Purchased at the above sale by the present owner

Edward Strahan, ed., The Art Treasures of America being the Choicest Works of Art in the Public and Private Collections of North America, Philadelphia, 1879-82, vol. 1, pp. 101, 106, illustrated with a drawing after the original

Gustave Boulanger was a friend and pupil of Jean-Léon Gérôme who he met after enrolling in the classes of Paul Delaroche in Paris around 1841. In 1845, Boulanger was sent to Algeria by his uncle and during his eight-month stay, he made numerous studies of the people and landscapes that he witnessed. In the years that followed, he became a regular exhibitor at the Paris Salon, showing Algerian scenes that he treated with the same precision as Gérôme.

Here, a young emir and his entourage, resting in the shade of the forest - perhaps resting on a journey - receive a passing traveller. The latter, in a crimson outer robe, his horse left untethered behind the great baobab tree, appears to offer the young nobleman a talisman of some kind, as a gesture of kindness or respect. This the young man accepts, and a friendship is struck. The emir’s escort, a robed Nubian and a bashi bazouk, recognizable by his distinctive white kilt, look on amenably.