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Artist Bio
Theodore Frere was a French Orientalist painter. Though he originally painted European landscapes, Frere became enamored with the “Eastern” world following his trip to Algeria and began to exclusively paint its exoticized scenes. Frere also traveled to Egypt, Greece, Turkey, and Syria, where he produced paintings that he exhibited in French salons starting in 1855. His Orientalist style drew the attention of the French public, and he received awards in 1848 and 1865 for his work. In this oil study, Theodore Frere shows an intrigue with the architecture of the “East” and the light that maps its way through its intricate archways. Frere juxtaposes light and dark, creating illumination against a foreground of shadow. In this composition, Frere stresses a bustling world, and within it, highlights different orientalized interiors.
