''Parisian Women in Algerian Costume (The Harem)'', sometimes known as ''Interior of a Harem in Montmartre (Parisian Women Dressed in Algerian costumes)'', is a painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, completed 1872, which Renoir created in homage to

Eugène Delacroix Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix ( , ; 26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school.Noon, Patrick, et al., ''Crossing the Channel: Britis ...

's '' Women of Algiers in their Apartment'' (1834, Louvre). It was rejected for entry to the 1872 Paris Salon, disliked by the artist and eventually sold for a small sum as part of a larger lot. It is now in the

National Museum of Western Art The is the premier public art gallery in Japan specializing in art from the Western tradition. The museum is in the museum and zoo complex in Ueno Park in Taitō, central Tokyo. It received 1,162,345 visitors in 2016. History The NMWA was es ...

, Tokyo.

Homage to Delacroix

In the 1870s, Renoir temporarily rejected the realism of

Gustave Courbet Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet ( , , ; 10 June 1819 – 31 December 1877) was a French painter who led the Realism movement in 19th-century French painting. Committed to painting only what he could see, he rejected academic convention and ...

and

Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism. Bo ...

in favour of the colour and drama of his hero Delacroix. He painted ''The Harem'' in homage to Delacroix's ''Women of Algiers in their Apartment'' (1834, Louvre) which he later described as "the most beautiful picture in existence".Benjamin, Roger. (2003) ''Renoir and Algeria''. New Haven:

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day, and became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and operationally autonomous. , Yale Universi ...

, p. 19.

The title of the picture acknowledged the artificial nature of much Orientalist painting by making it clear that these were Parisian women in costume. It may also be a humorous reference to the fact that Delacroix had been forced to paint ''Women of Algiers'' in the studio using French models after failing to obtain adequate access to women's accommodation during his trip to Algiers in 1832.

Roger Benjamin Roger Harold Benjamin (born ) is professor of Art History at the University of Sydney. Benjamin is an Australian art historian and curator who was born and raised in Canberra, where he attended the Canberra Grammar School. Moving to Melbourne, ...

described ''The Harem'' as a "naturalist demythologization of the Orient" and in the nature of a pastiche.Benjamin, 2003, p. 29. It was rejected for the Salon of 1872Bailey, Colin B. (1997) ''Renoir's Portraits: Impressions of an Age''. New Haven: Yale University Press, p. 108. which Benjamin argues resulted in the end of Renoir's experiments with Orientalism in the 1870s.Benjamin, 2003, pp. 32–33. Although Algerian costume and culture was well known in France in the mid-nineteenth century as a result of French colonial involvement in the country, Renoir did not visit Algeria until 1881.

Composition and subject

The composition of Renoir's work is quite different from Delacroix's ''Women of Algiers''. While Delacroix arranged his figures across the foreground, Renoir places his in a diagonal with a final indistinct figure at top right. The picture plane is tipped towards the spectator to the extent that the women look like they may slip down to the bottom of the picture. The two black-haired women at the front appear to be in subservient roles attending the blonde headed woman in the centre who is evidently being prepared for a sexual encounter. The woman on the right is holding up a mirror while the one on the left may be applying make-up using a brush. There is nudity and near nudity which Delacroix did not include in his scene. The figure in the top right corner of the picture is apparently greeting a visitor, whose arrival also attracts the attention of the woman on the left. There is a sense that the arrival of the visitor is unexpected or sudden. The woman at the top has her hand up, perhaps in surprise or to delay access while preparations for the encounter continue. One reading of the painting is that it depicts the arrival of a male client in a Paris brothel with an oriental theme. One of the models has been identified as Renoir's lover

Lise Tréhot Lise Tréhot (14 March 1848 – 12 March 1922) was a French art model who posed for artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir from 1866 until 1872, during his early Salon period. She appeared in more than twenty paintings, including notable works such as ...

. Tréhot sat for Renoir up to about 1872. ''The Harem'' was one of the last paintings for which she modeled for Renoir.

Provenance

Renoir was not fond of ''The Harem'', describing it to Ambroise Vollard as a "''grande machine''", a large academic composition. He moved studios and left it behind, hoping his former landlady would get rid of it, but he eventually had to take it back and it was sold in a lot of eleven works that fetched only 500 francs. The painting was acquired by Hyacinthe-Eugène Meunier (Murer) of Paris. E. Fasquelle, Paris (before 1912);

Bernheim-Jeune Bernheim-Jeune gallery is one of the oldest art galleries in Paris. Opened on Rue Laffitte in 1863 by Alexandre Bernheim (1839-1915), friend of Delacroix, Corot and Courbet, it changed location a few times before settling on Avenue Matignon. Th ...

, Paris (purchased by Eugène Fasquelle, 4 October 1913); Bernheim-Jeune fils (bought by Bernheim-Jeune, 26 January 1914); Durand-Ruel, Paris (bought by Bernheim-Jeune fils, 31 Dec. 1921); Kojiro Matsukata (bought at Durand-Ruel, 31 December 1921(?)); Sequestered by the French government, 1944; Returned to Japan, 1959.Parisiennes in Algerian Costume or Harem.
National Museum of Western Art. Retrieved 19 December 2014.

Influence

The painting is described in detail in

Anthony Hecht Anthony Evan Hecht (January 16, 1923 – October 20, 2004) was an American poet. His work combined a deep interest in form with a passionate desire to confront the horrors of 20th century history, with the World War II, Second World War, in which ...

's poem "The Deodand."

References

External links