Jean Joseph Benjamin Constant (French, 1845 to 1902)
Jean-Joseph-Benjamin Constant is most well known for his romantic visions of the Orient. His loose brushwork and rich palette, as seen in the above, show influence of Eugene Delacroix (1798 to 1863). Constant traveled to Morocco in 1872 with French ambassador and painter, Georges Clarin (1843 to 1919). Throughout his travels he acquired many Islamic artifacts, carpets, and garments which became props in the Orientalist paintings he exhibited at the Salon throughout the 1870s.
Information courtesy of Heritage Auction Galleries, May 2009.