(Rodez 1857–1936 Paris)
Harvesting dates in the oasis of Chetma, signed, dated and inscribed Maurice Bompard Chetma 1891, oil on canvas, 112 x 150 cm, framed, (GG)

Provenance:
European Private Collection.

Exhibited:
Salon de peinture et de sculpture, Paris 1892, no. 193.

Maurice Bompard was born in Rodez in the south of France. He studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he was taught by the Orientalist painter Gustave Boulanger (1824-1888) and Jules Lefebvre (1836-1911), a historical painter. He enjoyed great success from an early age.
In 1882 He was awarded a travelling scholarship to Spain and Tunisia. In 1889, together with his young wife Amélie Perretti, he left Paris for three months for Biskra in the south of Algeria. The first Orientalist painter who went to Biskra was Eugène Fromentin in 1848.
From 1889 to 1893, Bompard spent every winter in Biskra.

The present lot, which was exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1892, is a noteworthy example of the artist’s oeuvre dedicated to the depiction of everyday life in Algeria. The artist visited the oasis of Chetma near Biskra between August and November 1891 during his fourth stay in the region. There, he painted the present lot, “La récolte des dates dans l’oasis de Chetma”.

He returned to Biskra for the last time in 1893 where he was threatened by the local people. He thus decided not to return to Algeria anymore. Instead, he spent much of his time in Venice, where he painted the daily life of the Venetian people.