Lot 8: JEAN DISCART

JEAN DISCART FRENCH B. 1856 A MERCHANT signed J. DISCART . and inscribed Paris (lower right) oil on panel 13 by 8 in. 33 by 20.3 cm

Alex Fraser Gallery, Vancouver
The Estate of Clarence Saba, Vancouver (as A Moorish Curio Dealer)

Jean Discart was born in the Italian city of Modena in 1856 and in 1873, at the age of seventeen, he enrolled in a history painting course at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts taught by the famous German classical painter Anselm Feuerbach. After Feuerbach retired from the Academy, Discart and his fellow students Ludwig Deutsch (see lot 7) and Carl Merode applied to study under Leopold Carl Müller, who was made professor of the Academy following Feuerbach. They were refused admittance into Müller's class, which prompted Discart and Deutsch to travel to Paris (though Discart was admitted to Müller's class the next year). Discart's career is an interesting combination of these two influences: his classical training in Vienna under such revered master-painters, and his experiences with his contemporaries in the cosmopolitan Paris art world. He first exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1884 and painted Orientalist subjects through the 1920s, but otherwise there is very little record of his career.

In A Merchant, Discart depicts a vendor in a red fez and striped kaftan calling out to the crowd as he holds an engraved Mamluk style basin full of various objects. His wares include a late Indian or Qajar Iranian helmet, a small pear-shaped stringed instrument called an Oud, and three swords, including one with a flared ivory grip called a yataghan. His basin rests on a Syrian mother-of-pearl table and an overturned brass ewer lies at his feet.

Discart's skill in capturing detail is remarkable; he effectively manipulates the paint and brushstrokes to render various textures, much like his contemporary Deutsch. The exacting detail in the sword's inlaid coral and engraved handles; the pearly sheen of the Ottoman table; the fine cracks in the glazed turquoise tilework on the wall; Discart attempts to recreate each object's individual physical qualities and imbue the scene with a compelling authenticity.