Henri Lucien Robert

HENRI LUCIEN-ROBERT (France, 1868-?)
"Horsemen".
Oil on panel.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 21.5 x 42 cm; 39 x 58 cm (frame).

This painting is inscribed within the French orientalist tradition, which flourished strongly after the Napoleonic campaigns in Egypt and the progressive colonization of North Africa. This current, as fascinated by the exotic as it was impregnated with European cultural constructions, turned to depicting scenes of Arab life, often idealized and full of color.

In this particular composition, a group of Arab horsemen dominates the scene. Wrapped in tunics and turbans, the characters are depicted with a loose, vibrant and energetic brushstroke, impressionistic in nature. One of the horsemen carries a rifle, which introduces a note of latent tension or vigilance, and links the scene to the heroic or romantic representation of the tribal warrior. The landscape, resolved with equal ease, shows a green terrain bordered by a gorge that delimits the space without closing it. The composition finds its escape in a blue horizon, serene and open, which contrasts with the energy of the foreground and visually balances the dynamic charge of the scene.