Lot 1651 Dα

Adolf Schreyer was born in Frankfurt am Main and began his tutoring at the Städelsches Kunstinstitut at the age of 15. His teachers there included the genre painter Jakob Becker and the history painter Johann David Passavant. Horses were a favourite motif of his from the very beginning, and were to become the central subject of his oeuvre. Schreyer moved to Paris in 1861 and from there took a sojourn to Northern Africa, visiting the recently conquered country of Algeria as well as other French colonial territories. This contact with Arabian culture had a profound effect on the artist, with Oriental motifs such as the present and following works dominating his oeuvre from that time onward. The French Orientalists also had a particularly strong influence on Schreyer - especially Eugène Fromentin's depictions of Algeria - which explains why Arabian motifs are to be found in his works even before his North African sojourn.
These colourful and atmospheric paintings were well-suited to the artistic tastes of the era, and Schreyer soon received considerable public praise. His works were regularly shown and awarded with prizes in large exhibitions, and he himself was celebrated as "Lord of the Paris Salon".
We would like to thank Dr. Christoph Andreas for confirming the authenticity of this work after first-hand examination.