CAG.0018 Henry Bishop, The Bedouins, c.1935, oil on canvas, 42.8 x 60.4 cm. Purchased, Dermod O’Brien PRHA, 1935 (Gibson Bequest Fund).

WORK OF THE WEEK!

‘Only in complete silence, will you hear the desert.’ – Bedouin proverb

The Bedouins (c.1935) by Henry Bishop is a North African landscape that likely depicts Morocco.

The artist adopts a slightly elevated viewpoint as he paints a Bedouin caravan approaching the outskirts of a town or city, perhaps that of Fez (فاس).

The Bedouin are a nomadic Arab tribe whose culture has traditionally been defined by herding in arid terrain across the Arabian Peninsula, Levant, and North Africa. Here, Bishop renders several figures and camels following the line of a road. The artist limits his palette to earth and sand tones, with hints of red in the textiles worn by the Bedouin and white to describe the nearby buildings.

Henry Bishop (1868-1939) trained as an artist in London, Paris, and Brittany, but his travels in Morocco were to have a marked impact on his work, with his style evolving greatly after a long sojourn there. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1932, becoming a full member just five days before his death in 1939.

Did you know: This painting was purchased in 1935 from Dermod O’Brien, then President of the Royal Hibernian Academy, through our Gibson Bequest Fund, which was also used to acquire Men of the South by Seán Keating, John Lavery’s The Red Rose, and our suite of Harry Clarke watercolours.

The Bedouins (c.1935) by Henry Bishop is displayed on our main staircase.

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