Symeon Sabbides

The present work is the most important and largest painting by Simeon Sabbides to appear at auction. Previously unknown to scholars, it appeared in a German auction as attributed to Gustav Bauernfeind, before being correctly identified as the work of Simeon Sabbides by Dr. Marilena Z. Cassimatis. 

As noted by Dr. Cassimatis, 'This exquisite painting by Sabbides belongs to his oriental thematology, which he knew well both because of his origin (he grew up in Tokat, Kappadokia) and his frequent travels to Pontus, Asia Minor and Egypt. Paintings of Orientalist subject matter were common to Sabbides' oeuvre. The present work's draftstmanship and colouring are directly linked to the spirituality the artist attributed to his Oriental subject matter, contrary to other Orientalist painters who painted similar scenes in almost photographic accuracy and precision. Sabbides' realism during his mature period evolved from the teachings of the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich but includes an abundance of elements from the German Impressionists. Sabbides' work is executed with quick brushstrokes and spots of light. This technique can be seen in his painting Sunday at the Chinese Tower, 1915, in the collection of the National Gallery and Alexandros Soutzos Museum, Athens.

Oriental Scene in a Mosque's Precinct is directly related to The Blind Beggar, now lost painted before 1893, that Sabbides exhibited in the annual Glaspalast exhibition, Munich. An ink drawing of the same subject, if inverted, perfectly matches the sitting beggar on the lower left corner of the present work.

Examination with a spectral camera reveals a sharply outlined grid of horizontal, vertical and parallel lines. The lines function as perspective axes for the division of the composition into bright and dark surfaces to achieve his 'Golden Section'. In his published notes, Sabbides refers to the function of these lines.