Initially a writer, Fromentin turned to painting after completing his law degree in 1843. Three years later, he embarked on his first trip to Algeria and found abundant subject matter for his paintings. He continued to write, and his chronicle of a summer in the Sahara was published in 1856, followed by One Year in the Sahel, devoted to the artist's experience traveling and working in the region, which appeared in two installments in the Revue des deux mondes in 1858.
In this probable self-portrait, the artist depicted himself on his third and final trip to Algeria in 1852-53, a journey that inspired two travel books and an extensive group of artworks. With an economy of line, Fromentin portrays himself wearing a traditional Arab burnoose and absorbed in thought.
Inscriptions: Stamp of Fromentin's estate sale at lower right (Lugt 957).
Thompson, James Peery Williams, former owner.
Thompson, James, and Wright, Barbara. La Vie Et L'œuvre D'Eugène Fromentin / James Thompson Et Barbara Wright ; Préface De André Chastel. Courbevoie/Paris: ACR, 1987, 145.