Stanislaus von Chlebowski

Forsyth Wickes (Wickes (1876-1964) was a lawyer, one of the founders of the Columbia Law Review and a dedicated art collector - with a particular interest in French art. After his death in 1964, the majority of his collection was gifted to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston)

Thomas and Stephany Haines-Forsyth Wickes, until 2024

The guard wears a helmet with a chain mail, finely decorated gold-inlaid steel breastplate and boasts a number of armaments. Notably, visible above his belt is the two piece ivory grips of a yataghan, a shamshir is strapped to his side and an ornate powder flask hangs below. He slightly leans on a long miquelet-lock mother-of-pearl inlaid rifle, in front of the beautifully carved wooden door he is guarding. The façade of the building is surmounted by an elegant calligraphic panel framed by Iznik tiles. The top of the door is concealed by a large rolled curtain, the weight of the material expertly captured by the artist. Chlebowski crucially painted scenes he had witnessed and, in its verisimilitude, the present lot displays a remarkable knowledge of, and sensitivity to, Ottoman culture.

Stanislaus von Chlebowski was born in Podolia, the Ukraine, and began his artistic training at the St. Petersburg Academy. He first travelled to Munich before moving to Paris where he entered the Ecole des Beaux-Arts as a student of Jean-Léon Gérôme. Chlebowski was appointed Court Painter to the Ottoman empire by the Sultan Abdülaziz sometime after 1864. He was tasked with depicting the chief wars and battles in Ottoman history and at the end of his term, the artist was rewarded with the medal of the Order of Mecidiye, third class. Other notable artists who held this position were Ivan Aivazovsky and Pierre Désiré Guillemet.

Like his friend and teacher Gérôme, Chlebowski made multiple studies from nature; in Turkey and Egypt he drew and painted when walking the streets and when he returned to Paris he drew inspiration from a large collection of oriental craftwork.