Charles Zacharie Landelle (1821-1908), Orientalist Portrait, Morocco, 1853, Oil On Paper

Charles Zacharie LANDELLE
Laval 1821 - Chennevières-sur-Marne 1908

Portrait of a young Moroccan in profile
Tanger, 1853
Oil on paper mounted on panel
Signed lower left and dated and located lower right
23 x 17,5 cm

   Very slight lifting of the paper should be noted as well only a small tear (no loss). Re-gluing the paper to the support may be necessary.

   In 1837, Charles Landelle entered the Paris School of Fine Arts and trained in the workshops of Paul Delaroche and Ary Scheffer. Thanks to his great talent as a portraitist, he enjoyed resounding success which allowed him to exhibit at the Salon of 1841. The self-portrait he exhibited there brought him recognition, a medal and congratulations from King Louis-Philippe. Landelle made his first trip to Morocco, to Tangier, in 1853, which is quite early in the history of orientalist painting. He will also travel to Egypt and Jerusalem, then Algeria where he will spend his winters from 1881. Some of these compositions are colored by the fantasy of the Orient dear to the romantic writers Gérard de Nerval and Théophile Gautier who were friends of the painter. Our study, dated 1853, during his first trip to Morocco, escapes this fantasized vision. Painted from life, quite sketched, it represents in a naturalistic way a turbaned black man.