Ottoman Dancer By Sandor Alexander Svoboda (1826 Baghdad - 1896 Smyrna), Attr.to

This orientalist painting of a beautiful Ottoman dancer was created around the 1860s and 1870s. Due to its provenance and comparison with other identical works by the same artist, it has been attributed to Sandor Alexander Svoboda (1826 Baghdad - 1896 Smyrna).

For other similar works, see our additional images. A painter and photographer of Hungarian and Armenian descent, Sandor Alexander Svoboda was the eldest son of Anton Svoboda and Euphémie Joséphine Muradjian. His paintings, whose motifs are strongly influenced by the Orient, were inspired by his extensive travels. Like his brothers, he attended the French Carmelite School in Baghdad. He then went to Budapest to study painting, where he studied in the studio of Miklós Barabás (1810-1898). He then studied in Venice and London. Back in Baghdad, he was recognized as a renowned painter and photographer. With his brother Joseph Mathia Svoboda, he spent several years in Bombay and returned to Baghdad in 1857. A year later, he left Baghdad and settled in Smyrna until his death. Some of his works are still on display at the Milli Saraylar Resim Müzesi, the National Museum of Palace Painting, in Istanbul.

Literature: in French: Emm. Bénézit Dictionary of Painters, Sculptors, Draftsmen and Engravers. 4th edition 1999, v. 13, p. 396; in German: Hans Vollmer "General Lexicon of Artists from Ancient to Modern", Leipzig, 1999; in Turkish: Çınar Atay: 19. yüzyıl İzmir fotoğrafları. Suna & Kiraç Akdeniz Medeniyetleri Araştırma Enstitüsü, Istanbul 1997.

Inscription: Unsigned.

Medium: Oil on canvas, relined on canvas, original period luxurious gilt frame.

Dimensions: Unframed W 10 1/3" x H 15" (26.5 x 38 cm), Framed 21" x 25" (53.5 x 63.5 cm).

Condition: Good.