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Eugène Fromentin, 'The Banks of the Nile', 1874

About the work

Overview

Eugène Fromentin (1820–1876) was a French painter who specialised in scenes of life in North Africa. He travelled there several times during his career, storing up a stock of images that he could turn into pictures to satisfy the French taste for oriental subjects. The Banks of the Nile of 1874 was painted five years after he had visited Egypt to witness the opening of the Suez Canal.

It is a poetic image of river life: a gentle breeze pushes a felucca along while other small boats ply their trade and Arabs chat on the river bank. Fromentin gave this everyday scene a familiar air by using the techniques of Dutch Golden Age maritime painters such as Willem van de Velde, father and son, who had painted Dutch ships in moments of sunlit calm. Fromentin shows that the life of the river is the same the world over.

Key facts

Details

Full title
The Banks of the Nile
Artist dates
1820 - 1876
Date made
1874
Medium and support
oil on canvas
Dimensions
54 × 78.7 cm
Inscription summary
Signed; Dated
Acquisition credit
Presented by Roland F. Knoedler to the Tate Gallery, 1920; transferred, 1956
Inventory number
NG3511
Location
Not on display
Collection
Main Collection

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

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