Abram Incab Messir

Sir David Wilkie British, Scottish

Not on view

Wilkie reenergized British genre painting before travelling to Turkey and the Holy Land in 1840 to seek new subjects. His death on shipboard on the return journey was a blow to artist contemporaries. This vivid portrait of a Turkish official belongs to a series of Middle Eastern subjects that are considered Wilkie’s culminating achievement as a draftsman. To convey the sitter’s authority, the artist adopted a low viewpoint, and combined chalks and watercolors to create a glowing effect. A journal entry made in Smyrna (modern Izmir, Turkey) indicates that the artist began the commission on January 27, 1841, while an inscription on this sheet confirms completion two days later. The artist typically made such portraits in pairs—letting the patron choose one and retaining the other (the version that belonged to Wilkie is now at the Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford).

Abram Incab Messir, Sir David Wilkie (British, Cults, Scotland 1785–1841 off Gibraltar), Colored chalks and watercolor with white gouache (bodycolor) on gray paper

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Abram Incab Messir, Sir David Wilkie (British, Cults, Scotland 1785–1841 off Gibraltar), Colored chalks and watercolor with white gouache (bodycolor) on gray paper
Abram Incab Messir, Sir David Wilkie (British, Cults, Scotland 1785–1841 off Gibraltar), Colored chalks and watercolor with white gouache (bodycolor) on gray paper
Abram Incab Messir, Sir David Wilkie (British, Cults, Scotland 1785–1841 off Gibraltar), Colored chalks and watercolor with white gouache (bodycolor) on gray paper

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