Object number1939.2.2
Camels at the Watering Place
Date1890
Artist
Jean Leon Gerome
(French, 1824-1904)
CultureFrench
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsUnframed: 22 1/2 x 32 1/2 in. (57.15 x 82.55 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mrs. Elon H. Hooker (Blanche Ferry, class of 1894)
On View
On viewPeriod19th c
Classification(s)
SignedSigned (LL, on wall): J. L. Gerome
BibliographyMundy, James, The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center: Vassar College The History and Collection (New York: Prestel Publishing, 2007), p. 89 repr.ProvenanceCollection of Dexter Mason FerryVassar Exhibitions
Label TextJean-Léon Gérôme was one of the leading French academic painters of the late 19th century, known for dramatically lit and lushly detailed scenes that often have an almost cinematic quality. Starting in 1856, Gérôme traveled frequently to the eastern Mediterranean and painted numerous scenes inspired by his trips, including the present work that was exhibited at the Salon of 1890 under the title Abreuvoir (Watering Place). The wealth of details might attempt to persuade the viewer of the scene’s veracity, yet Gérôme’s composition seems to suspend any notion of contemporary time or specificity of place, and the figures are likewise portrayed in a largely generalizing manner. In an often-cited 1983 essay, art historian and Vassar alum Linda Nochlin, expanding on cultural theorist Edward Said’s influential Orientalism (1978), raised questions about the way in which such scenes contribute to the construction of an imaginary “Other” shaped by a Western and implicitly imperialist viewpoint.
Terms
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