Paul Désiré Trouillebert

(French, 1831-1900)

Jeune Orientale

Footnotes

Provenance
Louise Whitford Gallery, London.
Anon. sale, Christie's, London, 24 June 1983, lot 31.
Private collection, UK.

Literature
Claude Marumo, Thomas Maier and Bernd Müllerschön, Paul Désiré Trouillebert 1831-1900, Catalogue Raisonné de l'oeuvre peint, Stuttgart, 2004, no. 61 (illustrated in black and white p. 228 and in colour p. 124).

Paul Désiré Trouillebert is largely associated with the Barbizon School. He produced a number of landscape paintings during his lifetime, depicting Picardy, Normandy, Brittany and Charente. His use of gentle, relaxed brushwork and silver-grey harmonious hues align his work with that of Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. Trouillebert first exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1865 and he received commendation for his 1869 Salon Exhibit Au Bois Rossignolet. He was also a skilled portraitist and still life artist, and produced a series of Orientalist works and nudes.

In the present lot, Trouillebert has successfully captured the opulence and exoticism of the genre. The vibrant red cloth of the girl's skirt contrasts with the luscious and tactile fabric of the extensive fur covering. Her long elegant neck is adorned with heavy gold jewels and an Ottoman yataghan sword with a walrus ivory hilt rests in her hands. The sitter, similar to Trouillebert's 1874 Salon exhibit, Servante de Harem, is engaging directly with the viewer, her presence enhanced by the scale of the work. Unlike many other Orientalist views of women reclining and relaxing in lavish harem settings, this figure is upright and vigilant.