Baghdad, Preparing for a sortie

1882

ARTHUR MELVILLE, 1855 - 1904

Arthur Melville painted this watercolour during his trip to Baghdad in 1882. Soldiers dressed in traditional clothing clean their firearms while camels rest before the next sortie. In the background, in the shade of a large portico, the movements of a crowd of people are hinted at with quick strokes of watercolour.

IN DETAILS

Dimensions

36,2 x 50,8 cm

Technique

Pencil and watercolour on paper

Description

Although Melville seems to have been disappointed by his visit to Baghdad, his stay proved to be highly productive. He wrote to his brother that he had completed sixty “large sketches”. Street life became the main theme of the watercolours he produced in the city. His intention was to capture the essence of Eastern culture, with an extraordinary ability to approach everyday life. The Call to prayer, now lost, was considered the most elaborate of the works produced during his stay, due to its uniqueness in the chromatic transposition of the effects of Eastern light and shadow.

Two other watercolours depicting scenes of daily life in Baghdad, The North Gate and The Sortie, once at Peter Nahum’s gallery may refer to the same military parade of this watercolour.