Henri-Guillaume Schlesinger

Biography of Henri-Guillaume Schlesinger ( 1814-1893 )

Born in Frankfurt am Main in Prussia, Henri-Guillaume Schlesinger first studied at the Fine Arts Academy of Vienna, then continued his artistic education in Paris. Dividing his time between Austria and France. Henri-Guillaume Schlesinger finally took French nationality in 1870. Henri-Guillaume Schlesinger  exhibited almost every year between 1840 and 1890 at the Salon of French Artists. Some of these genre scenes would be adapted into lithographs, allowing him to become extremely popular.

His painting entitled "The Five Senses" was purchased by Empress Eugenie at the 1865 Salon.

In Istanbul during the reign of Mahmud II (1808 – 1839), he completed several official portraits of the sultan including a large equestrian portrait in 1837, depicting him in Western costume, wearing a black frock coat and fez. This work is housed today at the Topkapi Palace Museum in Istanbul. Two years later Henri-Guillaume Schlesinger completed another portrait of Mahmud II, which was given by Rechid Pacha to Louis-Philippe, and is now at the Musée de Versailles.

During his travels in the Orient, Henri-Guillaume Schlesinger was a frequent visitor at court, allowing him at his return to Paris to create Orientalist paintings, notably harem scenes of great elegance, their delicacy evoking the style of Ingres.