Frederick Arthur Bridgman

In an Algiers interior, a girl in a diaphanous blouse is lulled to the tune of the lute being played by her servant attendant, while a girl and a tame gazelle play at her feet. Bridgman evokes a deeply sensual scene, from the sumptuous colours brought out by the North African sun, the rich array of fabrics, to the almost audible dulcet tones of the stringed instrument. The musical theme in the painting in the form of the lute is partly self-referential. Bridgman inherited his mother's musical talent, and rarely travelled without his violin. In his later years he studied musical composition with French organist and composer Charles Widor, and passages of a symphony he wrote were performed in Nice in 1904.

Following his first trip to Cairo and Algeria in 1872, Bridgman turned almost exclusively to painting scenes of Egyptian and Algerian life. Putting up his family in the Hôtel de l'Orient in the Mustapha Supérieur quarter of Algiers, he used the services of a local guide, Belkassem, to gain access to private houses from which he would watch and paint daily life. Bridgman's experiences in Algeria and his prolific creative output led to the publication of a book, Winters in Algiers, illustrated with woodcuts modelled along the artist's drawings and paintings.