Artwork
A Cairo Bazaar
A Cairo Bazaar is an oil painting by the Orientalist artist Adrien Dauzats. It dates from 1839 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting is part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art collection.
The canvas presents a lively Cairo bazaar, rendered as a street market filled with vendors, patrons, and architectural details that signal an Orientalist vision of the Ottoman capital. Dauzats emphasizes the texture of textiles, the play of light on stone façades, and the crowded thoroughfare to convey the exotic atmosphere that European audiences associated with the East. As an 1839 oil on panel, the work exemplifies the Orientalist movement’s fascination with everyday urban life in the Middle East, while also reflecting the artist’s travel records in Egypt. The painting is part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art collection.
Technique & Style
The painting A Cairo Bazaar (1839) is executed in oil on a wooden panel, a support typical of French easel works of the period. Dauzats employs a refined oil‑painting technique that combines thin glazes with more impasto touches to render the crowded market architecture and figures with subtle tonal modulation. The work belongs to the Orientalist movement, as recorded in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s catalogue, and its composition emphasizes linear perspective and crisp delineation of merchandise stalls, reflecting the academic conventions of 19th‑century Orientalist art.
The dimensions of 24.8 × 17.8 cm are documented, and the available records do not specify the painting’s present condition.
History & Provenance
Adrien Dauzats painted A Cairo Bazaar in 1839, an oil on panel work measuring 24.8 × 17.8 cm, classified as an Orientalist painting. The subject depicts a bustling market in Cairo, reflecting the artist’s interest in Middle Eastern scenes. The painting was created as an independent work; no documentary evidence of a specific commission has been identified.
Following its execution, the artwork entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains on view. Its provenance is documented through the museum’s acquisition records, confirming continuous ownership by the institution since acquisition.
A Cairo Bazaar (1839) by Adrien Dauzats is housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is listed in the museum’s collection. The work is recorded as an oil on panel measuring 24.8 × 17.8 cm, classified as an Orientalist painting depicting a market scene. No specific accession or inventory number is disclosed in the available documentation, and the sources do not record any exhibition history for the piece. Its provenance is tied to the artist’s oeuvre and the museum’s Orientalist holdings.
Context
Adrien Dauzats' A Cairo Bazaar, executed in 1839, stands as a representative example of Orientalist painting, a movement characterized by Western depictions of Middle Eastern and North African subjects. The work, currently held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, utilizes oil on panel to depict a bustling market scene within an Orientalist framework. Created during a period when European artists frequently traveled to the region to document local life, the painting reflects the broader 19th-century artistic trend of romanticizing and exoticizing Eastern cultures.
While specific scholarly critiques of this individual piece are not detailed in the available records, its classification within the Orientalist movement situates it alongside contemporaneous works that shaped Western perceptions of the Cairo bazaar. The piece remains a significant artifact of this genre, illustrating the intersection of travel, observation, and artistic interpretation prevalent in mid-19th-century European art.
Overview
Adrien Dauzats, a French artist recognized for his landscape and genre paintings, completed A Cairo Bazaar in 1839. This oil painting captures a vibrant market scene within Cairo, reflecting the artist's firsthand experiences during his travels across the Ottoman Empire. The work exemplifies Dauzats's contribution to the Orientalist movement, which frequently depicted subjects from North Africa and the Middle East, and is now part of The Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Adrien Dauzats (16 July 1804 – 18 February 1868) was a French landscape, genre painter and painter of Oriental subject matter.
