Charles Wilda

Sale: Weschler's, Washington D.C., 23 May 1976, lot 1425
Purchased at the above sale by the present owner

The panel has been cradled and is flat and even. There is one fine horizontal 20cm long crack through the black cloak of the standing man from the left edge (visible in the catalogue illustration), and one 26cm long crack in the wall in the background from the left edge. There is some minor rubbing along the top and left framing edges. Some superficial horizontal scratches in the lower half of the composition are visible under raking light and are otherwise not distracting. Ultra-violet light reveals relatively minor, thin strokes of retouching along the aforementioned two cracks, an area in the wall above the man standing towards the centre of the composition, some strokes along the framing edges and in the far upper right corner, and one spot towards the centre of the composition to the left of the window. The picture is otherwise in good condition and is ready to hang.Presented in an elaborate gilt frame with some losses, with a nameplate.Colours are somewhat less orange in reality than in the catalogue illustration.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
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."

Accompanied by men playing drums, his audience enthralled, a mystic invokes a spirit in what is likely to be a Zār ritual. Originally practiced in Sudan, the Zār was adopted in other regions of North Africa including Egypt and, with numerous variations to this day, it consists in the acknowledgment of a human body being possessed by a spirit. By means of music and dancing, usually performed by women, the body enters a sort of trance and is finally liberated from the evil spirit.

Born in Vienna in 1854, Charles Wilda trained at the Viennese Akademie der bildenden Künste under Leopold Carl Müller (lot 18). Like many of his fellow Orientalist painters, he travelled to Egypt in the early 1880s and set up a studio in Cairo where he developed a keen interest for the depiction of everyday Egyptian life. Wilda exhibited widely in Vienna and Berlin, and at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1900. In the year of his death, the Künstlerhaus in Vienna honoured him with his first retrospective.