Frederick Arthur Bridgman

Purchased by the present owners in Paris circa 1978

Original canvas. There are scattered spots of retouching visible under ultraviolet light, notably one to the upper centre, scattered small spots to the green curtain at the right, a spot to the corner of the female figure's seat, and a few minor spots to the lower left corner. Apart from scattered fine craquelure, notably to the tan pigment along the lower edge, this work is in very good condition, with rich colours and fine detail, and ready to hang. Held in a simple, gold-painted moulded plaster and wood frame.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

In the Souk is a rare early work by Bridgman painted in the refined precise style that sets it apart from his later, more loosely painted works. Bridgman arrived in Paris from America in 1866, entering the studio of Jean-Léon Gérôme (lots 102 & 115) at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts where he honed his skills and under whose tutelage he developed the pictorial idiom exemplified in paintings like the present work. After a trip to Algeria and Egypt in 1872, Bridgman turned his attention to North African subjects. In the Souk was painted soon after that first journey, and while he would have worked from drawings and sketches made on the spot, the vivid colours and costumes exude some of the excitement he must have felt upon encountering the sights and sounds of North Africa still fresh in his memory.   

Historically, souks were held outside cities when a caravan or more, loaded with goods, happened to be passing through. Later, with the growth in importance of the market place and of the urban population, souks shifted to more permament premises in the medinas or town centres. The souk quarter is typically divided into small souks, each usually housed in a few narrow streets and named after the product it specialized in such as the gold souk, the fabric souk, the spice souk, the leather souk, the copy souk (for books). Bridgman depicts what appears to be a stall in the fabric souk, adorned with all manner of colourful rugs and throws. As today, the souk also acts as a social hub, where traders and residents alike can meet for coffee, to smoke, or to to converse. Here, a merchant enjoys a quiet and intimate moment with a female companion, framed by his colourful wares.