Jean-Léon Gérôme was born in France in 1824. He studied with several teachers but the artist who had the greatest influence on him was Paul Delaroche who was his instructor at the Ecole des beaux-Arts. 1 The Grief of the Pasha was painted in 1882. The painting is oil on canvas mounted on masonite, 36 3/8 x 29 in., 92.4 x 73.6 cm The painting was inspired by a poem written by Victor Hugo in 1827 with its final lines that identify what is depicted in the painting: “ What’s wrong with this pasha, whom war is calling, And who, sad and dreamy, cries like a woman? His Nubian tiger has died. “ 2
Gérôme ’s interest in the orientalist period was a reflection of his many visits to Egypt and other middle-eastern countries and the sway of the people, architecture and stories. However, Gérôme was considered a master of the Academic approach, which required a high degree of realism. The Grief of the Pasha includes the figure of a Turkish Pasha defined as being “applied exclusively to military commanders, but subsequently, it could distinguish any high official, and also unofficial persons whom the court desired to honor.” 3 But the main focus of this painting is the Tiger, a beautifully painted animal surrounded by flower petals, lying on an oriental carpet surrounded by large candles. In the background there are architectural details that, as with the tiled floor, are rendered with accuracy including the shadows cast by the columns. According to Nancy Demerdash, Gérôme ’s technique included modern developments that caused some to question his talent.
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His brilliantly painted and often provocative paintings were at the center of heated debates over the present and future of the great French painting tradition. Reproduced using brand new photomechanical processes and dispersed across Europe and America, Gérôme ’s images indelibly marked the popular imagination, directly influencing spectacular forms of mass entertainment, from theater to film. 4
Looking closely at this painting one notices the accuracy, which could almost be described as photorealism in the lack of visible brushstroke. The commentary provided by the museum suggests there may be a subtext to the tiger’s death, “it is possible that the artist meant the image to symbolize the decline of the Ottoman Empire itself,” 5 but whether this was the intention the “painting allowed Gérôme to demonstrate his ability to capture a variety of textures-cool marble, gorgeous fabrics, delicate flowers, and soft fur-“ 6 One of the painters who is considered an influence on Gérôme is Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres because of his highly finished surfaces of his paintings and his interest in demonstrating technical skill. 7 However, Gérôme’s fascination with exotic subjects has also been described as extending the stereotype of the exotic. Although the Pasha is presented as a man overwhelmed by grief it’s still a portrait that presents a Siberian Tiger as a domestic pet.
Orientalist paintings and other forms of material culture operate on two registers. First, they depict an “exotic” and therefore racialized, feminized, and often sexualized culture from a distant land. Second, they simultaneously claim to be a document, an authentic glimpse of a location and its inhabitants, as we see with Gérôme’s detailed and naturalistic style. 8
Grief of the Pasha embodies this dualistic energy in that we are presented with a skillfully rendered painting that depicts a man grieving for his dead tiger. While the human subject is dressed in a costume unfamiliar to most Western viewers, his posture of sadness and resignation, his face turned away from his beloved pet lessens the sense of the exotic. The Pasha’s solitary watch implies the tiger is possibly his only intimate relationship while the richness of the carpet and the flowers that surround the animal communicate that the animal was greatly prized. In this painting Gérôme presents a scene from everyday life with accuracy and elegance. As Impressionism and Postimpressionism became more and more popular, Gérôme opposed these new styles and was active in his distaste.
Gérôme’s lifelong opposition to such artistic innovations as Impressionism is clearly shown by his public protest against Manet’s posthumous retrospective and his organization of a petition to the French Sénat opposing the acceptance of the Caillebot collection of Impressionist paintings for the Louvre. 9
No matter which style of painting is considered superior, clearly Grief of the Pasha embodies the necessary ingredients of a masterpiece, stylistic artistry combined with emotional power.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
http://www.brittanica.com/biography/Jean-Leon-Gerome
http://www.humanitiesweb.org/spa/gcb/ID/23
https://www.joslyn.org/collections-and-exhibitions/permanent-collections/european/jean-leon-gerome-the-grief-of-the-pasha/
https://www.joslyn.org/Post/sections/375/Files/The%20Grief%20of%20the%20Pasha-translation.pdf
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/becoming-modern/intro-becoming-modern/a/orientalism
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wicki/pasha
1 http://www.humanitiesweb.org/spa/gcb/ID/23
2 https://www.joslyn.org/Post/sections/375/Files/The%20Grief%20of%20the%20Pasha-translation.pdf
3 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wicki/pasha
4 https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/becoming-modern/intro-becoming-modern/a/orientalism
5 https://www.joslyn.org/collections-and-exhibitions/permanent-collections/european/jean-leon-gerome-the-grief-of-the-pasha/
6 Ibid
7 http://www.brittanica.com/biography/Jean-Leon-Gerome
8 https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/becoming-modern/intro-becoming-modern/a/orientalism
9 https://www.joslyn.org/collections-and-exhibitions/permanent-collections/european/jean-leon-gerome-the-grief-of-the-pasha/
