Haremsdame 1929

Nasreddine Dinet made this painting of a woman with what looks like oil paint on canvas. The dark palette gives an overall impression of solemnity, like a memory or a dream. The paint handling is so interesting here, see the way Dinet used thin washes of browns and creams in the background, then layered these up to create depth. Look at the contrast with the figure, whose skin is rendered with such thick, opaque strokes. It’s this tension between the transparent washes and the solid forms that gives the painting its mood. I am drawn to the cascade of flowers, tumbling from the bowl like thoughts escaping the mind. Each petal is a tiny brushstroke. It gives the impression of something transient, like the fleeting nature of beauty. Dinet’s work reminds me a bit of Delacroix. You see a similar interest in light and color, but Dinet brings his own unique sensibility to these orientalist themes. In art, nothing is ever truly original, it's always an echo of something else!