The Orientalist Sale
The Orientalist Sale
Property from an American Private Collection
Rudolf Weisse
The Carpet Merchant
Auction Closed
October 25, 11:11 AM GMT
Estimate
30,000 - 50,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Property from an American Private Collection
Rudolf Weisse
Austrian
b. 1859
The Carpet Merchant
signed and dated R. Weisse / 1897 lower right
oil on canvas
Unframed: 57.7 by 45.7cm., 22¾ by 18in.
Framed: 72.4 by 59.7cm., 28½ by 23½in.
Frederick Thom Gallery, Toronto
Purchased from the above by the great grandfather of the present owner
Purchased from the above by the great grandfather of the present owner
The present work exemplifies Rudolf Weisse's masterful depictions of daily life. He travelled to Egypt and produced numerous sketches and collected artefacts and objects that he used in his paintings to evoke the rich and colourful mercantile street life of Cairo. Here, four men discuss the sale of a carpet, whilst an elderly gentlemen watches on from the background, smoking his hookah pipe. Two other men seemingly unaware of the deal, focus on their task at hand. The unique architecture of Cairo is depicted with care and detail by Weisse, including a mother-of-pearl inlaid table and vivid blue tiles on the wall.
Weisse was born in Aussig (modern-day Usti) on the banks of the river Elbe. He studied at the Vienna Academy but, like his compatriots and fellow artists Ludwig Deutsch and Rudolf Ernst, settled in Paris, where he made his reputation as an Orientalist painter and became a regular exhibitor at the Salon from 1889, the year in which he exhibited at the Exposition Universelle until 1927.
Weisse was born in Aussig (modern-day Usti) on the banks of the river Elbe. He studied at the Vienna Academy but, like his compatriots and fellow artists Ludwig Deutsch and Rudolf Ernst, settled in Paris, where he made his reputation as an Orientalist painter and became a regular exhibitor at the Salon from 1889, the year in which he exhibited at the Exposition Universelle until 1927.