Two Studies of a Seated Arab with a Pipe

1820–60

Not on view

Decamps—a prosperous painter, draftsman, and printmaker—was one of the first major European artists to travel extensively in the Near East. As he toured throughout North Africa and Asia Minor in 1828, he developed an interest in Orientalist themes. In this drawing, he used chalks and charcoal to draw two bold studies of the same seated Arab man with a pipe. The figures’ stillness and variation in scale encourage the viewer to imagine the artist’s voyage and his experience as he approaches or distances himself from the weary man.

Artwork Details

Title: Two Studies of a Seated Arab with a Pipe
Artist: Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps (French, Paris 1803–1860 Fontainebleau)
Date: 1820–60
Medium: Black and white chalk, charcoal, traces of graphite on light brown paper; some stumping
Dimensions: Sheet: 11 5/8 x 18 1/2 in. (29.5 x 47cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Gift of Spencer Samuels, in memory of Mitchell Samuels, 1991
Object Number: 1991.465
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

By Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps

In the same medium

From the same time and place

Défilé: Combat de Grecs et de Turcs (Dervenakia?), Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps French, Watercolor and gouache on paper — Défilé: Combat de Grecs et de Turcs (Dervenakia?)
Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps
1830s

Ceramic Horn, Glazed pottery, French — Ceramic Horn
French
late 18th or early 19th century

Two Nude Male Figures Struggling Together, Nicolas de Largillierre (or Largillière) French, Charcoal, stumped, black and white chalk on brownish paper — Two Nude Male Figures Struggling Together
Nicolas de Largillierre (or Largillière)
1709–10

The Turkish Patrol, Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps French, Oil on canvas — The Turkish Patrol
Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps
ca. 1830–31

Osage Warrior, Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin French, Watercolor and graphite on off-white wove paper, American — Osage Warrior
Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin
1805–7

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