Etienne DINET (1861-1929) - Lot 20

Etienne DINET (1861-1929) Night glare Oil on canvas, signed lower right. 75.5 x 65.5 cm Exhibition : - 2024, Paris Institut du Monde Arabe, Etienne Dinet, passions algériennes, January 30, 2024-September 15, 2024 Etienne Dinet pays close attention to the inhabitants of his adopted village, Bou-Saada, and their customs and occupations. He describes the beauty and nobility of their simple, laborious or festive lives. This testifies to his sensitivity and humanism, his interest in others and his lack of social or racial prejudice, as a native of the Normandy bourgeoisie. Our painting "Éblouissement nocturne" was the subject of several preparatory gouache studies for the faces. The study of human expression and psychology is a constant theme in his paintings. Dinet also likes to script his paintings, sometimes with humor and fantasy, as here. Our painting is easy to interpret. In the Algerian night, close to a fire that glows in the faces of the people, three men seem transfixed by the scene they are witnessing. The "mirage" that reveals itself to them is a traditional dance scene of young Ouled-Nails women, undoubtedly very beautiful. These dances were performed in front of a fire in the villages of the South. It is the beauty of the women, the grace of their gestures, the sparkling costumes and finery of the Ouled-Nails that amaze our three observers.