Une Rue au Caire

Oil on panel
Signed lower right “Th. Frère”
Titled on a label on the reverse: Une Rue au Caire

This quintessential orientalist scene by Théodore Frère captures with finesse the vibrant life of a street in old Cairo. Bathed in bright light softened by overhead latticework, a crowd of robed figures animates the narrow street, while the white minarets of a mosque rise in the sunlit distance. Frère demonstrates his remarkable skill in rendering fabrics, gestures, and architectural details, evoking an exotic and idealized vision of the East. Painted on panel, this work reflects the artist’s keen eye for composition and color, emblematic of the French Orientalist movement of the 19th century.