The Sphinx

Description of the artwork

Dated 1861, our watercolor was produced just after Carl Haag's long journey, from 1858 to 1860, to Egypt, Lebanon and the Holy Land with his friend, the painter Frederick Goodall. Here, he depicted the Sphinx standing in front of the Great Pyramids of Giza.
Stripped bare by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette between 1853 and 1858, the half-human, half-animal therianthrope statue stands in all its majesty. This guardian of the necropolis stands out with his recognizable silhouette. At a time when Egyptologists were making one discovery after another, the Sphinx served as a shelter and landmark for the long caravan that stretched out at the foot of the pyramids. In the hollow of its front legs, the travelers have lit a campfire that illuminates the sphinx's chin, while a large tent is pitched near its side. Perhaps it houses the findings of excavations carried out in the vicinity.
Considered one of the world's greatest specialists in watercolour painting, to which he devoted himself almost exclusively from 1847 onwards, Carl Haag provides us with true testimonies of his travels, as did some of his contemporaries in the early days of photography.

Origin

Collection Elizabeth Van Biema

Literature

Will be included in the catalog raisonné in preparation under the reference DE-6201.