Jean-Léon Gérôme

Goupil & Cie., Paris
Private Collection, France

Gerald Ackerman, The Life and Work of Jean-Léon Gérôme, London, 1986, p. 302, no. 551, catalogued (as lost and described in error as vertical)
Gerald Ackerman, La Vie et l'oeuvre de Jean-Léon Gérôme, Courbevoie-Paris, 2000, p. 376, no. 551, catalogued (as lost); p. 377, illustrated

The canvas has not been lined. There is a light stretcher mark corresponding to the upper horizontal stretcher edge, and a minor S-shaped line of craquelure to the left of the sun (just visible in the catalogue illustration). The only retouching visible under ultraviolet light is to a small c. 2 by 5cm repair in the dark part of sky above the mountain ridge, and some tiny spots at the extreme edges addressing frame rubbing. Overall therefore this work is in very good condition, and ready to hang. Held in a decorative gilt frame with floral and foliate motifs. The catalogue illustration is overall accurate, however the colours are deeper in reality.
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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."

This evocative work captures a camel caravan filing through a desert landscape, very possibly the Sinai, at sunset. Although they rarely travelled faster than the walking speed of a man, camels' ability to handle harsh conditions made them ideal for communication and trade in the desert areas of northern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula for centuries, though they could only travel on routes with sufficient sources of food and water.

With great mastery, Gérôme evokes the utter stillness of the evening desert air, as the caravan makes its final approach towards an oasis where it will halt for the night and the camels will be watered. Gérôme had seen such caravans during his first trip to Egypt with the sculptor and photographer Auguste Bartholdi in 1855-56, and on another trip in 1868, this time accompanied by his brother-in-law the photographer Albert Goupil and fellow painters Paul Lenoir, Léon Bonnat, and Willem de Famars Testas. He was therefore familiar with this harsh, wild world, and the way in which its inhabitants braved it with impassive dignity.

The conception of Caravane dans le désert was based on sketches Gérôme had made of the desert, but more importantly, on the photographs first taken by Bartholdi and later by Goupil (fig. 1) on the expeditions he made with them. Both the panoramic backdrop and the precise style in which it is executed make the painting a fascinating example of the link between the aesthetics of photography and Gérome’s own painterly vision, based on precision draftsmanship and clear composition. 

This rediscovered work was until recently known only through a photograph in the stock books of the dealer Goupil.