WILLIAM BIRDSALL GIFFORD (American, 1842-1929)
Arab Street Scene, 1901
Oil on canvas
15 x 24 inches (38.1 x 61.0 cm)
Signed and dated lower left: WB Gifford .01

Trained in Paris under the portraitist Carolus-Duran, William Birdsall Gifford explored Middle Eastern subjects during the late nineteenth-century Orientalist vogue, specializing in scantily clad women, exotic Islamic architecture, and bustling Arab marketplaces. His trip in 1911 to Israel resulted in a number of Biblical paintings set in Jerusalem and the Sea of Galilee region, which solidified his reputation at home and abroad. Gifford wrote about his sun-drenched, richly detailed Middle Eastern works, "I desired to convey something more than photographic recordings. I wanted to present something of the grandeur of Palestine, some of the moods of nature that produced historic echoes in the moods of men."

Please note that the present work is being sold unframed

Unlined canvas; the canvas appears to be slightly bowing; a tiny abrasion in lower left corner; under UV exam, there appears to be inpainting along bottom edge to address frame wear as well a few tiny flakes of inpainting in seated figure at lower left corner; possible strengthening in trees; otherwise, work remains in overall good condition.

Framed Dimensions 21.75 X 31 Inches