"Alphonse Léon Germain-thill - The Harem (sketch)"
Alphonse Léon GERMAIN-THILLAumale (Algeria), 1873 – Algiers, 1925The haremOil on canvas41 x 32.5 cm (56 x 47 cm with frame)Signed lower right “AGermain Thill”Born in Algeria, Alphonse Léon Germain-Thill is a painter of landscapes and local scenes. He first studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Algiers before going to Paris where he was a pupil of Fernand Cormon and Gustave Moreau.Germain - Thill had the opportunity from his childhood in Aumale to observe the customs of the country and depicted spinners and dancers. He also exhibited religious or mythological works at the Salon des Artistes Français from 1901, at the Salon d'Automne and from 1908 at the Salon of Algerian and Orientalist Artists. He also made engravings for book illustrations. He painted in the South of France and in North Africa. He returned to Algeria in 1906 where he ended his life and a retrospective was held at the Winter Salon in Algiers in 1926. A painting of his is also preserved in the Algiers Museum (The Austerlitz Bridge).