Jean-désiré Bascoulès (1886–1973) – Porter At The Port Of Algiers – Large Charcoal Drawing, Signed

Jean-Désiré BASCOULÈS (1886–1973) *Dockworker at the Port of Algiers*. Large charcoal drawing on paper. A preparatory drawing for the mural decoration of the salon in the Algerian Assembly Palace in Algiers, the capital of the French colony.
This significant study depicts a dockworker from the port of Algiers—an emblematic subject in Jean-Désiré Bascoulès’s Orientalist body of work. The figure, viewed from a three-quarter rear angle, is captured in a moment of intense physical exertion, with arms raised overhead to support a heavy load resting on his shoulder.
Clad only in simple drawers, the figure spans nearly the entire height of the sheet, lending the composition a monumental presence.
Executed in charcoal with great freedom of stroke, the drawing emphasizes masses and contrasts, powerfully conveying the body's musculature and tension.
Far more than a mere sketch, this large study possesses genuine artistic autonomy and reflects the artist's interest in North African dockworkers—a theme he explored on several occasions.
Signed lower right: J.D. Bascoulès. Medium: charcoal on fine brown paper. Sheet dimensions: 100 × 64 cm. Condition: good overall condition. Some slight, scattered foxing (approximately nine small spots), a horizontal crease across the middle, and subtle undulations and wrinkles inherent to the paper's thinness. No tears or losses. The sheet is currently secured to a rigid backing by adhesive tape along the edges—an older mounting method intended to facilitate display and preservation.
Provenance: acquired in 1996 from the auction house of Maître Françoise Holtz, auctioneer in Arles.
The sales invoice explicitly states: "Drawing by Jean-Désiré Bascoulès." This document will be provided to the buyer.
With its exceptional format, vigorous execution, and subject matter—characteristic of the scenes of labor at the port of Algiers—this work stands as a particularly representative example of Jean-Désiré Bascoulès’s Orientalist output.
To mark the 1930 centenary of the conquest of Algeria, the Financial Delegations commissioned a new cycle of works for the Palais des Assemblées Algériennes.
Bascoulès created a series of eight immense, realistic drawings, imbued with an expressiveness evident in the staccato rendering of the musculature and the depiction of physical exertion. The work was completed as three large panels, each seven meters high, decorating the walls of the main salon, and brought Bascoulès enormous and lasting success.
The Bordeaux Museum acquired seven of these large charcoal drawings on tracing paper, measuring 1002 mm high and 647 mm wide, and ours completes this series of eight.