Albert Dabat
A painting by Albert Dabat, the great Algerian orientalist, depicting the Bay of Algiers as seen from the heights of the Casbah. He poetically transcribes the effect of light and reflections on the sea and the city at sunset in a very modern way.
Oil on cardboard
Signed lower right
Dimensions: 49 x 60 cm
with frame: 54.5 x 64.5 cm
Provenance: Charles Simian Collection.
Price: 6500 €
The Bay of Algiers, a source of inspiration for many artists.
The White City and its surroundings have fascinated and inspired generations of artists from all horizons.
In our painting, Albert Dabat stands on the heights of the old city of Algiers, painting a bird’s-eye view of the roofs of the Casbah’s white houses, all the way down to the sea. The Admiralty can be seen on the left.
The sky and sea take pride of place, with half the painting giving freedom to the play of light between sky and sea.
A highly modern technique and an outstanding colorist
Endowed more than anyone else with a ” sense of pictorial mystery “, Albert Dabat is an innovator.
A lovely harmony of colors, where blues and pinks intermingle, combined with a modernist construction, a precursor of De Staël, gives this work undeniable poetry and charm.
Biography
Albert Dabat is a member of L’École d’Alger. He was one of the most original Orientalist painters to emerge in Algeria in the second half of the 19th century, and symbolized the “New Revival” of Algerian painting in the early 20th century.
Born in Blida, Algeria, he studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Algiers.
With a relocation allowance from the general government, he left to complete his training in Paris, where he worked in the studios of Benjamin-Constant and Jean-Paul Laurens at the Académie Julian between 1893 and 1898.
He won the Chenavard and Fortin prizes and returned to Algeria in 1899, where his paintings were a great success.
Albert Dabat exhibited at the Salon des Artistes français from 1899 to 1935, and became a member of the jury for the Prix de Rome and the jury for the Prix Henner.
In 1928, he exhibited “Baigneuses” and “Ouled Naïl”, and the French state bought “La Danseuse rouge”, “Femme à l’orange” and “Baigneuses” from him.
His work occupies a prominent place in the modern painting collection of the Musée Municipal d’Alger, created in 1908.
Bibliography
- Elisabeth Cazenave-” Les artistes de l’Algérie” . Bernard Giovanangeli Editeur, Association Abd-el-Tif .
- Victor Barrucand – ” Algeria and Orientalist painters in 1930 ” Edition du Tell 2005
Museums
– Paris, Musée d’Orsay, Petit Palais
- Bourg-en-Bresse, Brou Museum
- Algiers, National Museum of Fine Arts
Source
https://blidanostalgie.pagesperso-orange.fr/artistes/peintre/dabat.htm
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/École_d%27Alger
http://alger-roi.fr/Alger/arts/textes/36_alfred_dabat_algerianiste_121.htm
