Eugène Alexis Girardet (; 31 May 1853 – 5 May 1907) was a French Orientalist painter of Swiss ancestry.

Biography

He came from a Swiss

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

family. His father was the engraver Paul Girardet. His siblings,

Jules Jules is the French form of the Latin "Julius" (e.g. Jules César, the French name for Julius Caesar). In the anglosphere, it is also used for females although it is still a predominantly masculine name.One of the few notable examples of a femal ...

, Léon, Paul Armand, Théodore and Julia Antonine (1851–1921), all became artists. After learning engraving from his father, he studied at the

École des Beaux-arts ; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...

and in the studios of

Jean-Léon Gérôme Jean-Léon Gérôme (; 11 May 1824 – 10 January 1904) was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as Academic painting, academicism. His paintings were so widely reproduced that he was "arguably the world's most famous living art ...

, who encouraged him to visit North Africa in 1874.
Dictionnaire Historique de la Suisse. He also spent some time in Spain. In all, he made eight trips to Algeria after 1879 (some with Jules and Léon), especially to the south, around the oases of

Biskra Biskra () is the capital city of Biskra Province, Algeria. In 2007, its population was recorded as 307,987. Biskra is located in northeastern Algeria, about from Algiers, southwest of Batna, Algeria, Batna and north of Touggourt. It is nickna ...

, El Kantara and Bou Saâda, where he worked with

Étienne Dinet Nasreddine Dinet (born as Alphonse-Étienne Dinet on 28 March 1861 – 24 December 1929, Paris) was a French painting, French Orientalism, orientalist painter and was one of the founders of the Société des Peintres Orientalistes Society for Fre ...

. In 1898, he visited Egypt and Palestine, producing many works depicting the lives of desert

nomad Nomads are communities without fixed habitation who regularly move to and from areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the population of nomadic pa ...

s. Unlike other Orientalists, he produced no

harem A harem is a domestic space that is reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A harem may house a man's wife or wives, their pre-pubescent male children, unmarried daughters, female domestic Domestic worker, servants, and other un ...

scenes. Upon returning to France, he became a teacher at the

Académie Julian The () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907). The school was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number and qual ...

. He exhibited regularly at the

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...

and with the Société des Peintres Orientalistes Français (of which he was one of the founding members), with major shows at the

Exposition Universelle (1900) The Exposition Universelle of 1900 (), better known in English as the 1900 Paris Exposition, was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from 14 April to 12 November 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate develop ...

, where he won a gold medal, and the Exposition Coloniale de Marseille of 1906. He also showed his works at the Glaspalast in Munich. He was interred at the Père-Lachaise Cemetery. In addition to several museums in France, his works may be seen at the

Dahesh Museum of Art The Dahesh Museum of Art is the only museum in the United States devoted to the collection and exhibition of European academic art of the 19th and 20th century. The collection, located in Manhattan, New York City, originated with Lebanese write ...

and the National Museum of Fine Arts of Algiers, as well as at museums in Switzerland and New York City. He was married first to Maria Wickham (1855-1923), and finally to Gabrielle Girardet Bazaille (1849-1930). https://www.gazette-drouot.com/lots/23470738-eugene-girardet-1853-1907--la--- Nelly, one of his daughters with Wickham, married

Louis Charles Breguet Louis Charles Breguet (; 2 January 1880 in Paris – 4 May 1955 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye) was a French aircraft designer and builder, one of the early List of aviation pioneers, aviation pioneers. Biography Louis Charles Breguet was the g ...

, famous French aviation pioneer.

Selected paintings

File:Eugene alexis girardet la mosquee del azar au caire.jpg,

Al-Azhar Mosque Al-Azhar Mosque (), known in Egypt simply as al-Azhar, is a mosque in Cairo, Egypt in the historic Islamic core of the city. Commissioned as the new capital of the Fatimid Caliphate in 970, it was the first mosque established in a city that ...

, Cairo File:Eugène Girardet - Le tailleur.jpg, The Tailor File:Eugène Alexis Girardet - Le marchand de fruits.jpeg, The Fruit Seller File:Eugène Alexis Girardet – Bedouins dans le désert.jpg,

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu ( ; , singular ) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia (Iraq). The Bedouin originated in the Sy ...

s in the Desert File:Eugène Girardet – Passage à Bou Saada.jpg, Passage to Bou Saâda

References

External links

by Janet Whitmore @ Rehs Galleries.
ArtNet: More works by Girardet
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Girardet, Eugene 1853 births 1907 deaths French Orientalist painters 19th-century French painters French male painters Painters from Paris 19th-century French male artists

Biography

Selected paintings

References

Further reading

External links