Bathhouse in Constantinople – Badhuis in Constantinopel 1889

Marius Bauer

EtchingPaperPrint
8.50 ⨯ 6.70 cm
ConditionVery good
€ 380

Klooster Fine Art

• About the artwork
  [EN]
  Marius Bauer visited the Ottoman Empire for the first time in 1888, and from that point on he returned there on several occasions. After the return from his first trip, he produced several etchings of subjects he encountered during this trip.
  
  This small etching from about 1889 shows the domes of one of the bathhouses in Constantinople, in the fluid style of drawing Bauer is best known for. In the foreground, several figures can be discerned. One rides atop a pack animal on the left, and two more on the middle-right, partly obscured by the higher ground in the foreground, are walking.
  
  Bauer used plate-tone - a residue of ink on the surface of the plate - to reduce the harsh contrast between the black in an the cream coloured paper. By doing so, he employed a tactic in use since the 17th century for creating an interesting play of light and dark.
  
  The etching is signed in the plate (lower right: ‘MBauer’), and numbered and monographed in pencil in the lower margin (lower left: No31, lower right: MB).
  
  [NL]
  Marius Bauer bezocht het Ottomaanse rijk voor het eerst in 1888, en vanaf dat moment zou hij er bij meerdere gelegenheden terugkeren. Na terugkeer van zijn eerste reis maakte hij verschillende etsen van onderwerpen die hij tijdens zijn reis was tegengekomen.
  
  Deze kleine ets dateert uit ongeveer 1889, en toont de koepels van een van de badhuizen in Constantinopel. Het is getekend in de vloeiende tekenstijl waar Bauer bekend om is. Op de voorgrond zijn verschillende figuren te onderscheiden. Links rijdt iemand op een lastdier, en iets rechts van het midden staan nog twee figuren, onderaan afgesneden door de hoger gelegen voorgrond.
  
  Bauer maakte gebruik van plaattoon – een restant inkt op de oppervlakte van de etsplaat – om het harde contrast tussen de zwarte inkt en het crèmekleurige papier te verkleinen. Hiermee maakte hij gebruik van een techniek die al in de 17de eeuw werd gebruikt om een interessant spel van licht en donker te creëren.
  
  De ets is gesigneerd in de etsplaat (rechtsonder: ‘MBauer’). Daarnaast is in de marge een nummer en monogram aangebracht. Linksonder: ‘No31’, rechtsonder: ‘MB’
• About the artist

  Marius Alexander Jacques Bauer (25 January 1867 in The Hague – 18 July 1932 in Amsterdam) was a Dutch painter, etcher and lithographer; best known for his Oriental scenes. His style was largely Impressionistic, although it also derived to some extent from the Hague School. Many of his works were based on photographs he bought during his travels; some of which were by famous photographers such as Félix Bonfils.
  
  His father was a stage painter who encouraged his son's early interest in drawing. From 1878 to 1885, he studied at the Royal Academy of Art, under the direction of Jan Philip Koelman, but thought his approach was too conservative and left without graduating. While there, his works were awarded several medals and he received a stipend from King William III, which enabled him to study independently.
  
  In 1888, he made a study trip to Istanbul, financed by the art dealership, Van Wisselingh & Co., and decided to make Orientalism his principal subject.Later, he made numerous trips to Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, India, Ceylon and the Dutch East Indies, sketching and collecting items for Van Wisselingh. He also worked as an illustrator for the short-lived literary journal, De Kroniek, attending the coronation of Tsar Nicholas II on its behalf.
  
  In 1894, he won a first-class medal at the Exposition Internationale d'Anvers. Two years later, he was awarded the Willink van Collenprijs. He received the Grand Prix at the Exposition Universelle (1900). In 1902 he married the painter, Jo Stumpff, one of the Amsterdamse Joffers.This was followed by a successful showing at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. He would continue to exhibit regularly throughout Europe and North America.
  
  In 1900, he was named a Ridder in the Order of Orange-Nassau. Six years later, he was upgraded to an Officer for his contributions to the Rembrandt Tri-centennial. In 1911, King Albert I of Belgium awarded him the Order of the Crown and, in 1927, he became a Ridder in the Order of the Netherlands Lion. He was a long-standing member of the Pulchri Studio and Arti et Amicitiae. In 1930, he became an honorary member of the Senefelder Club.Two years later, he died of a stroke. A street is named after him in the neighborhood of streets dedicated to 19th and 20th century Dutch painters in Overtoomse Veld, Amsterdam.
  
  In 1996, the "Bauer Documentatie Stichting" (BDS) was established. Its goal is to raise awareness of his works and do more research on the sources of his paintings.

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