Georges Washington (1827-1910)

"Arab Horsemen Resting in the Shade under Trees"

Oil on canvas, signed

55 x 75 cm.

The French Orientalist painter, Georges Washington was extremely adept in portraying horses. He was born in Marseilles, travelling to Paris to study under François-Edouard Picot, historical and military painter. He married the daughter of another Orientalist and military painter, Henri-Felix Philippoteaux. Washington's travels east were almost exclusively spent in Morocco and Algeria, and with rare exceptions, most of his exhibited pictures at the Salon des Artistes Français, 1857-1901 were set in Algeria. His Salon piece "Nomads in the Sahara in Winter" was the first of many to receive critical acclaim. It is now in the Lille Museum; other works by him are housed in the museums of Dunkirk, Limoges and Sète.