Emile Vernet-Lecomte

Sale: Sotheby's, New York, 18 April 2008, lot 189

A French orientalist, Emile Vernet-Lecomte was born into an illustrious artist family. His great-grandfather was Claude-Joseph Vernet (1714-1789), his father Hippolyte Lecomte (1781-1857) and his uncle Horace Vernet (1789-1863). First depicting the Parisian bourgeoisie and aristocracy, Vernet-Lecomte exhibited his first picture at the Paris Salon in 1843, at 22 years old, where he would receive the bronze medal. Initially signing his pictures Emile Lecomte, the artist changes his signature to Vernet-Lecomte , combining both his last names. Moving away from depicting French society, the young artist quickly displayed a penchant for Orientalism.

Only several years later, Vernet-Lecomte exhibited his first orientalist pictures at the Paris Salon, Tête de syrien and Femme Syrienne after which he focused mainly on oriental women. Two events during his lifetime would have an impact on him and that he would often depict the Crimean War (1853-1855), also often painted by his father, and the massacre of the Maronites in Syria by the Druze (1860-1861). Although little is known of his travels, and unlike many fellow orientalists who never left their native country, it is believed that Emile Vernet-Lecomte travelled to Egypt and Algeria in the 1860s.