Ferdinand Max Bredt (German, 1868-1921)
By the fountain
signed 'F. M BREDT' (lower centre)
oil on canvas
96.5 x 147cm (38 x 57 7/8in).
Footnotes:
Provenance
Private collection, USA, since circa 1920.

Although there is little known of the life of Ferdinand Max Bredt, he is considered one of Germany's leading Orientalist painters. He was born in Leipzig in 1860 and studied initially at the School of art in Stuttgart, before moving to Munich where he became a pupil of Wilhelm Lindenschmit. Bredt travelled extensively, undertaking voyages to Greece, Italy, Turkey and Tunisia, and produced an extensive body of work both in oil and watercolour which was exhibited widely and as far afield as Chicago, London, Berlin and Paris.

By the fountain is a wonderful example of the artist's work. It has remained in private hands since being acquired, probably in Paris, in the 1920s by the grandparents of the current owners. Reminiscent of the work of Jean-Léon Gérôme, the composition shows an odalisque relaxing by a pool in a Moorish courtyard; beside her sits a beautiful girl wearing an ornate headdress and holding a hookah. On the other side of the pool a dancer holds a tambourine aloft, accompanied by a musician as other figures gaze languidly on. Like many of his contemporaries, Bredt often used genuine artefacts which he had collected on his travels to embellish the scene. This attention to detail adds authenticity to the composition, authenticity which is further enhanced by the fine modelling of the architecture, something which fascinated the artist to the extent that his own house and studio in Ruhpolding were built in the Arabian style.
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