Georges Jules Victor Clairin (French, 1843-1919)
The Sultan's favourite
signed and dated 'G.Clairin/-1875-' (lower left)
oil on canvas
81.5 x 66cm (32 1/16 x 26in).
Footnotes:
Provenance
Anon. sale, Christie's, New York, 15 February 1995, lot 74.
Anon. sale, Sotheby's, New York, 24 May 2017, lot 69.
Anon. sale, Christie's, New York, 6 June 2018, lot 6.
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner.

Perhaps best known as a doyen of belle-epoch Paris, and for his numerous paintings of Sarah Bernhardt, Georges Clairin was equally fascinated with Orientalism. Having studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, Clairin first visited North Africa in 1868, travelling through Morocco with the painter Henri Regnault, and visiting the city of Tutouan with the Spanish artist Mariano Fortuny. Clairin also toured Italy with Jean-Léon Gerôme. He later visited Egypt, although ill-health forced an abandonment of his intention to cross the Sinai desert.

Clairin received numerous public commissions, providing murals and decoration for Parisian buildings such as the Opera, the Bourse de Commers and the Hotel de Ville. He was a regular exhibitor, showing work at the Salon des Artistes Français, the Salon des Peintres Orientalistes Français, and the Societé Coloniale des Artistes Français, as well as at the Salon des Artistes Algériens et Orientalistes in Algiers.
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