Arthur Von Ferraris

Arthur von Ferraris (Hungarian, 1856-1936), "Portrait of Edward Morse Shepard", oil on canvas, signed mid-left, old handwritten inscription en verso canvas listing artist, sitter, and owner, "Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences" accession label en verso frame, 41" x 33". Presented in a period carved, gessoed and giltwood frame. Provenance: George Foster Peabody; Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences; Private collection New Orleans, Louisiana.

Arthur Von Ferraris (Hungarian,1856-1936) A Cairo street signed, dated and inscribed 'A. Ferraris. le Caire 1892' (lowerleft) oil on canvas 135 x 101cm (53 1/8 x 39 3/4in). PROVENANCE: Sale, im Kinsky Vienna, 'Kunstauktion - Bilder des 19. und 20.Jahrhunderts, Zeitgenössische Kunst', 11 October 2005, lot147 A private collection EXHIBITED: Paris, Salon, 1892 Budapest, 1892

FERRARIS, ARTHUR VON. (Golgowicz (Hungary) 1856 - 1936 Vienna). Portrait of a lady. 1907. Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower right: Ferraris. 07. 122 x 89 cm. CHF 2 000.- / 3 000.- € 1 350.- / 2 030.- FERRARIS, ARTHUR VON (Golgowicz (Ungarn) 1856 - 1936 Wien) Portrait einer edlen Dame. 1907 122 x 89 cm. CHF 2 000.- / 3 000.- € 1 350.- / 2 030.-

46.3 by 32.4cm., 18¼ by 12¾in. DESCRIPTION signed and dated A. Ferraris. Paris / 1888 lower left oil on panel PROVENANCE Hamann Collection, HamburgAcquired from the above in the 1950s by the father-in-law of thepresent owner; thence by descent CATALOGUE NOTE This scene of a coffee shop allows Ferraris to demonstate hisskill as both an architectural draughtsman and as an acute observerof Egyptian society. From the iznik tiles and mashrabiyya (latticedwoodwork) shopfront, to the hookah and the mother of pearl inlaiddecagonal gueridon upon which it stands, every detail ispainstakingly observed and minutely rendered. Ferraris studied in Paris with the renowned academic paintersJean-Léon Gérôme and Jules Lefebvre. It may have been Gérôme whoencouraged Ferraris to travel to Cairo - the setting for this scene- and to adopt a similarly polished style, which he shared with hisfriend and fellow Austrian artist Ludwig Deutsch.

THE LEARNED MAN OF CAIRO MEASUREMENTS 46 by 36cm., 18 by 14in. DESCRIPTION signed and dated Arthur Ferraris . le Caire 1888 lowerleft oil on panel PROVENANCE Acquired by the family of the present owner 1940;thence by descent CATALOGUE NOTE The allure of the East captivated Ferraris' imagination. Indeed,the Orient was a major preoccupation among nineteenth-centuryartists. Ferraris approached the subject with fervour andadmiration, and his oeuvre is testament to this preoccupation.While many nineteenth-century artists remained armchairOrientalists, depicting an imaginary Orient and reaping thebenefits of public demand for such work, others travelledextensively to the Near, Middle and Far East and thereby greatlyexpanded their pictorial vocabulary. While the extent of Ferrari'stravels is not known, his subject matter suggests that he visitedEgypt, Turkey and North Africa. Reading the Koran epitomizes Ferraris' academic compositionsof the Near East. The painstaking attention devoted to thedepiction of exotic features, such as the Iznic tiles in thebackground and the vibrantly coloured robe of the seated man,clearly show the influence of earlier Salon Orientalists, above allFerraris' teacher, Jean-Léon Gérôme. Gérôme, an extraordinarymaster of the genre, travelled to the East no less than seventimes, and taught generations of artists how best to document thevivid colours and strong light, architecture, customs and costumesof the Orient. It may have been Gérôme who encouraged Ferraris to travel to Cairo – the setting for the present work – and to adopt a similar,polished realist style. Ferraris travelled to Cairo in the winterof 1885 in the company of his friend and fellow Orientalist painter par excellence Ludwig Deutsch. It is likely that Deutsch'smany depictions of daily life in Egypt had some influence onFerraris choice of subject matter. Indeed, images of Cairo and itsinhabitants were to become Ferraris' most celebrated and soughtafter compositions (fig. 1). Reading the Koran exemplifies Ferraris' masterfulrendering of exacting photographic detail, where one can discerneach crease in the fabric and perceive every individual crack tothe wall tiles. The vivid colours and textures are electrifying andthe powerful diffused light engenders an overall glow to thepainting. The attention Ferraris paid to detail and the virtuosityof his brushwork is particularly evident in the depiction of theseated man and the minutely rendered architectural detail of theinterior. Nonetheless, the setting of the present work is humble:the tiled wall in the background is crumbling and the only visiblefurnishings are the wooden chair and rug the man is seated on. Thisabsence of accoutrements serves to highlight the quiet, spiritualand meditative atmosphere of Reading the Koran. Fig. 1: Arthur von Ferraris, Driving a Bargain, Cairo , sold:Sotheby's, New York, 18 April 2008, lot 174