Doğu'nun Kaşifi: Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps

Abstract

The French artist Alexandre Gabriel Decamps was one of the most important Orientalist painters in his period. Throughout the 19th century, Near East became more important in European foreign policy and it also became a valuable world of colour and model for the Western artists who were looking for different subjects. Decamps has been to Asia Minor in 1828 and opened a studio in Smyrna (now İzmir). He repeatedly used the impressions and notes about this Eastern trip during his career and was highly praised by the critics about his light and shadow technique. Decamps' Orientalist works were the vivid scenes that consisted of landscapes, everyday life of local people and odalisques. He also produced many lithographs of hunting, political and genre scenes. Although Decamps was a well-known painter of his period, he is not sufficiently known today.