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Woman in Turkish Dress, Seated on a Sofa

ca. 1751–52
Not on view
Whereas other artists used pastel for lively, spontaneous surface effects, Liotard created works characterized by staid movement, a high degree of finish, and verisimilitude. Having lived in Istanbul from 1738 to 1742, he fashioned himself the “Turkish painter,” adopting a beard and Turkish dress as he traveled between European courts for commissions. In an important precedent to nineteenth-century Orientalism, Liotard regularly portrayed European clients with props he had purchased in the Ottoman Empire. His variations on this famous composition, which melds objects from everyday life and elements of portraiture, were extremely popular.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Woman in Turkish Dress, Seated on a Sofa
  • Artist: Jean Etienne Liotard (Swiss, Geneva 1702–1789 Geneva)
  • Date: ca. 1751–52
  • Medium: Pastel over red chalk underdrawing on parchment
  • Dimensions: 23 × 18 5/8 in. (58.4 × 47.3 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Bequest of Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 2019
  • Object Number: 2019.141.16
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

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Road in Etten, Vincent van Gogh Dutch, Chalk, pencil, pastel, watercolor. Underdrawing in pen and brown ink.
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Portrait of a Man, Jean Etienne Liotard Swiss, Red and black chalk on off-white laid paper, verso worked in black chalk (in area corresponding to the sitter's jacket on the recto)
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