Paul Lazerges

Paris, Salon de la Société des artistes français, 1883, no. 1435

Théodore Véron, Dictionnaire Véron, Salon of 1883, Paris & Poitiers, 1883, p. 227

In the shade of a baobab tree in an Algerian village, a storyteller narrates his yarn before an enthralled audience. In front of him, men listen intently, while huddled in a doorway behind him a group of women try to eavesdrop every word. Passing on stories, folklore and history orally from one generation to the next was central to Berber communities, as it was in many cultures in Europe.

Lazerges spent eight years of his youth, from 1830 until 1838, living in Algiers with his father. On their return to Paris, he began his career as a painter of religious subjects, making a living from government commissions to decorate churches across France. However, his early years in North Africa left a lasting impression on him and he he gradually transitioned to Orientalist subjects. In 1861 he settled in Algeria permanently, submitting often large-scale works of local subjects to the annual Paris Salon.