Le Marabout: In the Harem Bath by Jean-Léon Gérôme

Jean-Léon Gérôme
1824–1904 | French

Le Marabout: In the Harem Bath

Signed "J.L. Gerome" (lower left)
Oil on canvas

Jean-Léon Gérôme is widely regarded as one of the most important painters of the nineteenth century. Renowned for his unrivaled command of the human figure, he was among the most celebrated artists of his time. Though his oeuvre encompassed a wide range of subjects, Gérôme’s Orientalist scenes were the most sought after. Painted circa 1889, Le Marabout: In the Harem Bath is an exceptional example of his intimate bather compositions and ranks among the few works of this scale and significance remaining in private hands.

Gérôme’s harem bathers were an instant sensation with his audiences, inviting them into a mystical, faraway world. During his travels to Bursa in 1879, he visited the famed Turkish baths, going to great lengths to conduct careful studies of the experience and completely immersing himself in the relaxed atmosphere and luxurious architecture. Back in his Paris studio, Gérôme’s firsthand observations enabled him to recreate the fantastical magic of these baths. Le Marabout: In the Harem Bath reveals Gérôme’s incredible ability to render these enticing interiors with intimacy and authenticity—even though he, of course, was never allowed into the women’s bathing quarters himself.

Featuring several of Gérôme’s iconic female figures, the work epitomizes his singular ability to render the human form and complexion with remarkable accuracy. The women are depicted with stunning naturalism, their pearl-white skin suffused with luminosity. Even the marabou assumes an anthropomorphic presence, standing amused yet authoritative as it keeps watch over the bath. 

The most prominent French academic painter of the 19th century, Gérôme was also among the foremost inventors of Orientalist themes. After the year he spent in Rome with his teacher Paul Delaroche in 1843, he developed an insatiable appetite for traveling, which inspired his treks to Egypt, Turkey and North Africa. During his career, Gérôme achieved great popularity, exhibiting at countless Salons and wielding considerable influence as a defender of academic tradition.

His skill was so widely admired that he was appointed as professor of painting at the École des Beaux-Arts in 1863. Over many decades, he would go on to teach over 2,000 students there (including Mary Cassatt and Thomas Eakins) and publish the most important instructional book on drawing that would influence many great artists, including William Bouguereau, Odilon Redon and Pablo Picasso.

Circa 1889

Canvas: 18 7/8" high x 25" wide (47.8 x 63.5 cm)
Framed: 29 3/4“ high x 36 3/4” wide x 4“ deep (75.6 x 93.4 x 10.2 cm)

View the Dossier

Provenance:
Boussod, Valadon & Cie., Paris
Knoedler, New York
Acquired from the above by Schaus, New York
Tomkins Collection, New York
American Art Association, 5 March 1915
Acquired at the above sale by J. Frick
John Hemming Fry, Ohio
Bequeathed by the above to the Canton Museum of Art, Ohio
M.S. Rau, New Orleans
Private Collection, Florida
M.S. Rau, New Orleans


Literature:
G. Ackerman, Jean-Léon Gérôme, Paris, 2000, p. 326, no. 374 (illustrated)