Page 75 - Orient Collection

31. Turkish Merchants in VENICE

Artist: Felix ZIEM, French, (1821 - 1911)
Execution date (approximate): 1889
Téchnique: Oil on Canvas, (signed lower right)
Measures: 41 x 63 cm.
Description: With the expanding Ottoman Empire in the 19c, Turkish ships could arrive to
Venice to let the merchants do their trade. A group of Turkish merchants disembarking
from their ship in a gondolier across the Venice Lagoon.
Provenance: from the Dallas Museum (USA).

Biography
Félix Ziem was a French painter who was part of the Barbizon school. He was born in
Beaune, a region in Burgundy, France. His mother was born there too and married a
Croatian immigrant. Originally, Ziem wanted to become an architect as he studied in
the Architectural School of Dijon, and even worked for a while as an architect. However,
painting began to transform itself from a pass-time hobby to a career for him, especially
after a visit to Italy in 1841, where he fell in love with the city of Venice, a place that
would in time become an enormous inspiration for his works of art. Apart from Venetian
scenes, he also painted many portraits and a different variety of landscapes ranging from
Constantinople and Martigues to Cagnes-sur-Mer and his own native Burgundy.
Ziem’s artwork was exhibited for the first time in the Paris Saloon in 1849, becoming a
regular for many more years to come. Part of the school of Barbizon travelled throughout
all of Europe and in 1860 he transferred to Montmartre, the artistic neighbourhood of
Paris. He had financial success there and also aided other young artists in their works.
In 1857, the French government recognised his contribution to the world of art by naming
him Knight of the Legion of Honour.
Ziem died in 1911 and was buried in the Cemetery Père-Lachaise in Paris. Some of his
artwork can be viewed in the Ziem de Martigues Museum

74 75