WILLIAM H. PARTRIDGE (AMERICAN, 1858-1938) SIGNED OIL ON CANVAS LANDSCAPE W/FIGURES IN ARAB DRESS'

'MOSQUEE SIDI ABDERRHAMANE,' ALGIERS, ALGERIA'  

IN ORIGINAL PERIOD GOLD FRAME

(Circa 1895-1915)

Late 19th-early 20th c American painting

DIMENSIONS:

FRAME: 24 ¾" Width x 29" Height 

PAINTING: 19 ½" Width x 23 ½" Height

DESCRIPTION:

This absolutely gorgeous large format oil on canvas landscape painting by the well-listed American painter William H. Partridge (1858-1938) is signed and in its original period gold painted wood and plaster ornate frame. As with many other American artists, Partridge also traveled abroad and as with other artists of the same period, he went to warmer climates that facilitated 'en plein aire' painting and who's climate allowed working in the winter months. Southern Europe, Italy, Spain and North Africa, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia in particular were destinations for young American painters eager to experience the exotic and to paint where the warm sun made everything seem to glow and to create warmer palettes of reds, yellows and oranges, quite different than the platinum, cooler climate and associated colors they were accustomed to back in America. Partridge traveled and also wanted to experience this far off land himself and to capture and marvel in it by way of paint, forever immortalizing his personal experiences there. This painting is more than a travel piece or some kind of short-thrifted artistic post card. Instead, it's the same kind of observational and sensient perception of reality that the impressionists and post-impressionist painters both shared. In this depiction of an arabesque plaza and adjacent courtyard in Algiers, Algeria, Patridge depicts the rather famous and ubiquitous 'Mosquee Sidi Abderrhamane,' with its towering, multi level minaret, which seemed to survey and watch over all earthly struggles and pursuits below. Partridge gives the same kind of intense sensual perception and observation of what lied not only before his eyes, but what it actually felt like to be there. This is precisely what makes this painting of a place foreign to Partridge, also seem curiously intimate and familiar to him. The painting is atmospheric and painterly, adeptly transmitting human experience vis-a-vis the medium of oil paint. The Mosquee Sidi Abderrhamane tower in the background features bands of orange and deep cerulean blues that perch high above the plaza below, shaded by the deep olives and viridian greens of leafy deciduous trees, cooling the sun-drenched courtyard. Two completely covered Arab figures, one in a white and the other in a blue hooded cape, with their backs to the viewer, mysteriously walk away and appear to be exiting the open air plaza. Their appearance and centrality leaves the viewer uneasy, as their presence is unexplained and at once renders the entire painting mysterious and enigmatic. The paint is thick and viscous, with flat ox hair brushes applying the oil paint in quick, nervous thrusts horizontally and vertically, building up the paint on the surfaces and constructing forms with color, giving the entire treatment of the painting a well considered temperature and color. This is a masterful work by an experienced and capable artist, whose work is more constructed and deliberate, than it is careless or lazy. The painting is signed in high case letters by the artist in the lower right corner of the painting. The work also has a torn brown paper dust cover that has since been mended back together with tape. This oil on canvas by the American painter William H. Partridge has tremendous mystery, great presence and is clearly an accomplished work done by an American master. A marvelous, highly successful work that won't disappoint. Terrific. Beautiful.

CONDITION:

Very Good to Excellent overall vintage condition. Untouched and undisturbed. This period, late 19th to early 20th century American oil on canvas by the well-listed American painter William H. Partridge (1858-1938) is in pristine, nearly immaculate overall condition, with no tears, buckling, abrasions, water damage, paint loss, pushes, pulls, tears or any other condition issue to report. It's estate fresh and in its original period frame. There's not a spot on it and it was taken off a nail in the home where it sat for decades. The owner was reluctant to see it go, since it had become a fixture in their home and was as omnipresent as the faces of their own children and pets. This painting has not seen the light of day and has not been available until now. I'm excited to be able to be its temporary custodian and to offer it for sale. An amazing work of art by a truly American painter, who seemed to personally embody what was best and intrinsically characteristic about truly American painting. It was not quite European, no, it was American and wasn't trying to be anything other than itself. A simply gorgeous period painting in absolutely wonderful condition. Splendid.