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Dimensions: 46.5 by 37.5cm., 18 1/4 by 14 3/4 in.
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Provenance: PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION
Sale: Vente Chassériau, Paris, 16 March 1857, lot 4 (titled Intérieur oriental)
Prince Napoléon (Jérôme-Joseph-Charles-Paul-Napoléon Bonaparte, 1822-91, the second son and third child of Prince Jérôme - Napoléon's youngest brother (former King of Westphalia) and Catherine of Württemberg
Sale: Vingt-six tableaux très importants de l'Ecole moderne (Collection du Prince Napoléon), Hôtel Drouot Paris, 4 April 1868, lot 2 (titled Intérieur de Harem)
Mme Galoppe (by 1893)
Alfred Baillehache Collection
Sale: Vente Alfred Baillehache, Paris, 23 May 1922 (titled Intérieur oriental. Le harem)
Baron Arthur Chassériau, Paris
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Exhibited: Paris, Galerie Durand-Ruel, Les peintres orientalistes, 1897
Paris, Petit Palais, Centenaire de la conquête de l'Algérie. 1830-1930, 1930, no. 9
Paris, Exposition coloniale de Paris. 1931, 1931 (titled Toilette orientale)
Paris, Musée de l'Orangerie, Chassériau, 1819-1856, 1933, no. 57
Alger, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Théodore Chassériau, 1936, no. 9
Paris, Musée Jacquemart-André, Le Second Empire, 1957, no. 48 (titled Femme arabe à sa toilette)
Paris, Galerie Daber, Chassériau. 1819-1856: Exposition au profit de la Société des Amis du Louvre, 1976, no. 15, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
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Literature: Théophile Gautier, 'Atelier de feu Théodore Chassériau', L'Artiste, no. 14, 15 March 1857, pp. 209-11 (titled Intérieur oriental); reprinted in Le Moniteur Universel, no. 75, 16 March 1857, p. 300
Valbert Chevillard, Un peintre romantique: Théodore Chassériau, Paris, 1893, no. 106 (titled Harem)
Ary Renan, 'Les Peintres orientalistes - Galerie Durand-Ruel, La Chronique des arts et de la curiosité, no. 9, 27 February 1897, pp. 82-83, mentioned
Valbert Chevillard, 'Théodore Chassériau', Revue de l'art ancien et moderne, no. 3, 10 March 1898, no. 170 (titled Intérieur oriental)
Léonce Bénédite, Théodore Chassériau: sa vie et son oeuvre, Paris, 1931, vol. II, p. 298, listed; p. 309, illustrated (titled Femme arabe se parant)
Werner Teupser, 'Theodore Chasseriau', Zeitschrift für Kunst, vol. III, 1949, p. 111, illustrated (titled Araberin)
Marc Sandoz, Théodore Chassériau 1819-1856: catalogue raisonné des peintures et estampes, Paris, 1974, p. 290, no. 147, catalogued; p. 292, pl. CXXXVII, illustrated
Gerard-Georges Lemaire, The Orient in Western Art, Paris, 2000, p. 227, mentioned
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Notes: Painted circa 1851-52, Intérieur oriental is one of three related paintings by Chassériau depicting a woman slave being attended to in a harem, the other two works being Femme sortant du bain (fig. 1); and Femme mauresque (fig. 2). While the other versions show the bather by the pool being dried by her attendants, in the present work Chassériau depicts the Sultan's favourite being embellished with jasmine flowers to finish her toilette. Chassériau masterfully captures the effect of light on the rich fabrics worn by the central figures, which seem to sway with the movements of the women. Combining memories of Algeria, which he visited in 1846, with his own fantasies, Intérieur oriental captures Chassériau's unique vision of the Orient, the land of his longings and dreams.
Just as the experience of the Orient transformed the palettes of Delacroix, Fromentin and Gérôme, so Chassériau's journey to Algeria had a profound and lasting influence on his oeuvre, offering him a wealth of new subject matter and introducing him to a dazzling light and colours he had not experienced before. The subject of the harem was one which fascinated many of the Orientalist painters, for the very reason that it was one of the few places not accessible to men, let alone Westerners. Steeped in mystery and specualtion, harems not only piqued the imagination of artists and viewers alike, but because they were deemed far enough removed from European culture provided the ideal vehicle for painters to explore the nude without censure.
Following Chassériau's estate sale, Intérieur oriental entered the collection of Prince Napoléon. Other notable works in the Prince's collection that were included in his 1868 sale included Jean-Léon Gérôme's masterpiece Interieur Grec. Le Gynecee (see fig. 3, sold in these rooms on 3rd June 2003, lot 134), the succés de scandale of the Paris Salon of 1850.
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