Eugène Alexis Girardet, Praying Arab with a Camel and Pyramids, Egypt, Late 19th Century, Oil on Canvas

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Description of the item:
Orientalist painting, oil on canvas, depicting an Egyptian landscape with an Arab praying with a camel … Read more Description of the item:
Orientalist painting, oil on canvas, depicting an Egyptian landscape with an Arab praying with a camel and pyramids in the background. Signed by the artist Eugène Alexis Girardet in the lower right corner, an important French painter famous for his Orientalist paintings. Of particular note is the artist's skill in rendering the intense brightness of the Egyptian sun, which is especially visible on the nearest pyramid and on the ground where the Arab is praying. The painting can be dated to the late 19th century, and the excellent patina, especially on the back, confirms our dating.

Useful information for evaluating the item:
An internet search shows that this artist has achieved numerous auction results, and the four highest results we found sold at Christie's, Sotheby's, and other auction houses range from €162,531 to €239,802, excluding auction fees of 25-30%, for large paintings. We found one very similar in subject matter to ours, although larger and accompanied by a beautiful frame, but sold at auction for €130,000. Finally, we found other similar paintings of the same size and even much smaller than ours (some measuring just 13.5x18 cm) listed or sold for a minimum of €2,300 up to €8,500, to which auction fees must always be added. Obviously, it must be said that we have no certificate or document to prove the authenticity of the painting, even though the signature is very similar, under the patina, as shown by an analysis with a Wood's lamp, and truly credible. The canvas is very old, so in our opinion the painting is authentic, but without any documents to support this claim, we cannot ask for the price that the work deserves.

Information about the artist and/or manufacturer:
Eugène Alexis Girardet (1853–1907) was a French Orientalist painter of Swiss origin. In 1898, he visited Egypt and Palestine, producing many works depicting the life of desert nomads. Unlike other Orientalists, he never produced scenes of harems. Upon his return to France, he became a teacher at the Académie Julian. He exhibited regularly at the Salon and with the Société des Peintres Orientalistes Français (of which he was a founding member), with important exhibitions at the Exposition Universelle (1900), where he won a gold medal, and at the Exposition Coloniale de Marseille in 1906. He also exhibited at the Glaspalast in Munich. He was buried in the Père-Lachaise Cemetery. In addition to several museums in France, his works can be admired at the Dahesh Museum of Art and the National Museum of Fine Arts in Algiers, as well as in museums in Switzerland and New York City.


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