Maurice Bompard
1857–1935 · French Orientalist painter
Jean Maurice Bompard (Rodez, 1857 – Paris, 1935 or 1936) was a French Orientalist painter and one of the founders of the Société des Peintres Orientalistes Français. He depicted scenes of everyday life in North Africa and, to a lesser extent, views of Venice.
He trained in Marseille under Dominique Antoine Magaud and then in Paris at the École des Beaux-Arts, under Gustave Boulanger and Jules Lefebvre. He first exhibited in 1878, and a few years later won a grant that took him to Germany, Italy, Spain and Tunisia. In 1889 he married Amélie Perretti and, after a stay in Biskra, returned there each winter until 1893, when local people grew suspicious of his activities. He then spent winters in Venice until 1908.
Among his best-known works are The Butchers of Chetma, shown at the Salon of 1890, and Ouled Naïl de Biskra (1890). His paintings are held by the Musée d'Orsay, the Musée Denys-Puech and the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Marseille. At the Grand Hôtel Broussy in Rodez, he painted murals for the lounge and dining room.
Works (1)
Painted by Maurice Bompard in 1890, this oil on canvas shows a woman of the Ouled Naïl seated on a cushion, wearing a veil, necklaces, earrings, a bracelet and her traditional dress, with a fan at hand. It belongs to Orientalism, a movement that depicted North Africa through a European gaze. No further details about its commission or reception are recorded.
Teachers and pupils
Studied with
- Jules Lefebvre 1836–1911
- Gustave Boulanger 1824–1888