Little is known about The Arab Blacksmith – one of the most iconic paintings in the gallery’s collection. Created by Thomas Sheard, the painting was purchased by the gallery in 1903.
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Sheard was born in 1866 and studied at Oxford. He trained in Paris under the famous artist Jules Lefebvre (known for his painting Chloe which hangs in Melbourne’s Young and Jackson Hotel).
Lefebvre and his contemporaries had a fascination with North Africa and Egypt, and in the late 1800s and early 1900s, artists undertook expeditions and explorations into Africa, offering British and European audiences a glimpse into the exotic orientalism of the desert.
The Arab Blacksmith offers a vignette from a nomadic tribal existence and is likely set in a southern Algerian ‘Oasis’ town.
While other late 19th and early 20th century paintings are loaded with rich reds, golden hues and deep browns, a closer look at The Arab Blacksmith reveals an almost-extreme use of purple; the smoke of the fire, the hazy folds of fabric, the shimmering sand in the distance are all liberally endowed with a purple glow. “Why so much purple?” I asked a knowledgeable artist companion, “To show off” he replied.
Purple has a long association with decadence, however, it wasn’t widely available to artists until the mid-1800s and Sheard would have most likely using Manganese Violet pigment.
A relatively new and expensive purplish pigment, Manganese Violet was employed by the Impressionists to convey light and romance, but was also symbolically associated with aristocracy and wealth.
Sheard’s use of purple could have been a device to heighten the exotic nature of the scene (desert travel was expensive in the 1800s).
Or perhaps Sheard was giving a subtle nod to Monet who once declared “Fresh air is Violet” and uses purple to convey the clear air and dissolving light of the desert.
The Arab Blacksmith is on display as part of Collective Vision: 130 Years until May 28. Visit www.bendigoartgallery.com.au.