Frederick Arthur Bridgman

(American, 1847-1928)

Ouled-Nahil, Dancing Girl of Biskra

Footnotes

Painted circa 1880.

Provenance
Private collection, France.

Exhibited
(possibly) New York, 1881.

Literature
Frederick Arthur Bridgman, Winters in Algeria, New York, 1890, illustrated p. 227.

The present lot depicts an Ouled-Nahïl woman dancing in an interior with two musicians seated before her in the lower right corner of the composition and two observers to her left and one man seated behind her. This is a close-up of a bare Biskra interior with no windows or doorways indicated, although light streaming from the left suggests an unseen aperture. Biskra buildings were simply constructed with little or no furniture.

The Ouled-Nahïl women traditionally left their villages in western Algeria to earn money for their doweries by dancing in other towns, such as Biskra. They were known for their provocative movements and elaborate costume, consisting of unusually large head-dresses as the beaded white and blue one the dancer wears in this painting. They also wore much jewellery — bracelets, earrings, necklaces, and a decorated chain that fastens the woman's wrap.

In the early 1880s, Bridgman began showing many views and interiors from Biskra such as the present lot. His intense earthy palette, strong modelling and dramatic lighting suggest similarities to his Egyptian paintings of the late 1870s, and therefore this painting may have been stylistically a transitional work.

Biskra became a popular winter place for Europeans, and the Ouled-Nahïl women a significant fixture there, identified with prostitution as well as entertainment. Unlike Etienne Dinet, who later became famous for his depictions of these women, Bridgman composed only one scene of them (although two variants) over the course of his career. The present work was reproduced in Bridgman's 1890 book Winters in Algeria about his travels throughout the country.

For a comparable work see Danseuse Ouled-Nahïl (Touggourt)/Dancer Ouled-Nahïl Touggourt, Paris Salon, Société française, 1927, illus., in Catalogue illustré, pl. 62.

We are grateful to Ilene Susan Fort, Ph.D., F. A. Bridgman authority and Curator Emerita, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, for confirming the authenticity of this work on the basis of photographs.