RUDOLF ERNST | A NEW DAWN

Private collection, London (purchased circa 1996)

This impressive panorama is thought to be Ernst's largest known work and a veritable tour de force of Orientalist painting. Set against the backdrop of a city skyline of minarets that could be Constantinople, a man and a young woman, possibly father and daughter, itinerant and surrounded by their prized belongings, contemplate the new dawn from the hills outside the town. The painting shows off Ernst's skill not just as a landscapist and observer of light, but as a master observer of different textures - from the ceramics to the figures' silk costumes - so brilliantly observed that they are almost tactile.

Ernst travelled extensively in the Ottoman Empire and north Africa, sketching and photographing copiously and collecting props of all kinds to feature in his finished paintings on his return to Fontenay-aux-Roses outside Paris where he had his studio. The present work abounds with objects, from Safavid vases, one with a brass or bronze neck, the other with a turquoise glaze; Andalusian or Damascene tiles; a Qajar Ghalian cup; an Ottoman tortoiseshell, mother of pearl, possibly ivory inlaid box; Ottoman babouche shoes; and large incised tombak chalice.