Charles-Théodore Frère, French 1814-1888- A Street in Damascus; oil on panel, signed 'TH. FRÈRE.' (lower right) and inscribed 'une rue à damas / Th. Frère.' on the reverse, 35 x 26.5 cm. Provenance: Private Collection, UK.; Anon. sale...

Charles-Théodore Frère,
French 1814-1888-
A Street in Damascus;
oil on panel, signed 'TH. FRÈRE.' (lower right) and inscribed 'une rue à damas / Th. Frère.' on the reverse, 35 x 26.5 cm.

Provenance: Private Collection, UK.; Anon. sale, Sotheby's, London, 26 October 2021, lot 46.

Note: The present work is a striking example of Frere’s oeuvre, and the Orientalist style for which he is best known. The Damascene setting was directly informed by the artist’s own travels in the Middle East, which served as inspiration for his paintings throughout his lifetime. Here, and relatively typical for Frere, the sky is afforded prominence with the painting’s composition leading the eye down the street as it narrows, towards the vibrant blue which reaches halfway down the canvas. His use of bright pigments and his sharp contrasts of light and shade emphasises this vibrancy and the heat of the scene.
Nevertheless, the present work represents a notable variation on many of Frere’s scenes, as he shifts away from his broad depictions of open desert landscape towards this more densely populated and visually complex street scene, in which the contrasts between light and shade are brought into striking relief. For a similar example of the artist’s work and of comparable dimensions, see Anon. sale, Christie’s, London, 15 June 2015, lot 69.
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