0149 Adolf Sandoz, an Orientalist Painter in Algeria

Abstract

Adolf Karol Sandoz was a 19th-century Polish artist who spent his life and developed his artistic career in France. In Paris, he studied painting and architecture, and worked as a professional illustrator. He can also be linked with a circle of artist-travellers, who searched for new sources of inspiration in the Orient. In 1879 and 1881, Sandoz travelled in Algeria. He described his impressions from the first journey in vividly written memoires published by the Krakow journal Czas. His travels inspired several genre paintings, including: Interior of a House in Biskra, Dancer from the Uled Nail Tribe, Arab Woman by a Cradle, Morning in the Sahara, Evening in the Sahara, Oasis, On the Oued Riverbank at El Kantara Oasis, and Sheik Mistress of El Kantara. At present, his works emerge at art auctions, are known from reproductions, or only from descriptions. Sandoz exhibited in Paris, Warsaw, Krakow, and Lviv, where he was appreciated by art critics. The aim of this article is to introduce Sandoz’s journey to Algeria, analyse his paintings with exotic subject matter, and locate them within a wider context of orientalist painting. It will also present the history of artistic travel to Algeria undertaken by 19th-century painters, including those from Poland.