Étienne DINET (1861-1929) Lot n° 5

The bath of the Djenn's girls, moonlight Oil on canvas Signed lower right 81 x 65 cm Bibliography - La vie et l'oeuvre de Etienne DINET, Catalogue raisonné, K. BENCHIKOU, D. BRAHIMI, ACR Edition, Paris, 1991, reproduced under number 304 page 230. - 1933, F. ARNAUDES, Etienne Dinet and Sliman Ben Ibrahim, mentions its conservation in the ephemeral Dinet Museum in Bou-Saâda. 1938, J. DINET-ROLLINCE, p.98. 1979, L. THORNTON, Connaissance des Arts, special issue of July, repro. p.116. Provenance - Private Collection - Paris, Sale Drouot, Mes Couturier-Nicolay, 27/04/1983, n°35 Related work A very similar composition " Fille de Djenn's " reproduced in " Tableaux de la vie arabe " illustrated by Etienne Dinet and commented by Slimane Ben Hibrahim, edition of Art H. Piazza, Paris, pages 70 to 73. We would like to thank Mr Koudir Benchikou for the information he kindly provided us with. Etienne Dinet is at the same time the great reporter and the great poet of Algerian life at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. He describes at the same time geographical sites, customs and daily life. Making his first trip in 1884, he stayed there regularly every summer and settled permanently in the Bou-Saâda oasis in 1904. His Algerian passion led him to learn Arabic, to convert to Islam in 1913 and to make the pilgrimage to Mecca in 1929. Our painting, the " Bain of the Djenns' daughters, Clear from lune " represents phantasmagorical beings endowed with wings and grace incomparable : the Djenns' daughters, the King of the magical spirits who can change the course of mortal life... The tales of a Thousand and One Nights, whose hero is Hassan el-Basri, make a clear distinction between the pious, well-meaning and believing jinn and the evil jinn, or " éfrits ", which the illustrators usually depict in frightening ways. " Tableaux de la vie arab