Etienne Dinet
(France 1861–1929)
- Title
- The snake charmer
- Alternative title:
- Le charmeur de viperes
- Year
- 1889
- Media
- Painting
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 176.5 x 180.4cm
- Signature & date
- Signed and dated l.l., yellow oil "E. DINET / ...1889".
- Credit
- Purchased 1890
- Accession number
- 799
- Location
- 19th & 20th c European art
- Further information
Another of the prolofic technicians of late nineteenth-century art, Dinet was a French-born painter-illustrator, with a penchant for attention-seeking titles and striking technical effects are exploited in 'The snake charmer', an orientalist painting that doubles as a touristic postcard. Exotic in its geo-graphical setting and sensational in its subject matter, it further trades on scale as a strategy to arrest the viewer. The figures are large and brilliantly coloured, seeming to spill into the gallery space. The charmer himself is consciously that, with a toothy smile and 'authentic' costume. Also noteworthy is the treatment of bright sunlight which Dinet translates into broad applications of impasto paint with practised, not to say formulaic, ease. No real attempt is made to create a composition. Rather, the cropped casualness of a photograph is suggested.
AGNSW Handbook, 1999.
- Provenance
- Paris Salon (France), Paris/France, Purchased by the AGNSW from the Paris Salon 1890
- Bibliography (29)
-
Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook (1999), Bruce James (Australia) (Author), Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940) (Director), Trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia), Domain, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
(and so forth) (1998), Robert Dessaix (Author), Pan Macmillan Australia Pty. Ltd. (Australia), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Look (Oct 1997), Wendy Symonds (Australia) (Editor), Mount Eagle Publications Pty. Ltd. (Australia), Australia.
Orientalism - Delacroix to Klee (1997), Roger Benjamin (Australia, b.1957) (Author), Ursula Prunster (Australia) (Author), Lynne Thornton (Author), Mounira Khemir (Author), Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874), Domain, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Good Weekend (1997), Fenella Souter (Editor), John Fairfax & Sons (Australia), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
La vie et l'oeuvre de Etienne Dinet (1991), Koudir Benchikou (Author), ACR Édition, Paris, France.
Art Gallery of New South Wales Handbook (1988), Annabel Davie (Editor), Trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia), Domain, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Images in opposition: Australian landscape painting 1801-1890 (1985), Tim Bonyhady (b.1957) (Author), Oxford University Press (Australia), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Salon and Academie: the charm of tradition (1984), Anna Waldmann (Australia) (Author), Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874), Domain, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Art and Australia (Vol. 22, No. 1) (Spring 1984), Elwyn Lynn (Australia, b.1917, d.1997) (Editor), Fine Arts Press Pty Limited (Australia), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Catalogue del l'oeuvre de Dinet (1984), Koudir Benchikou (Author).
The Orientalists: painter travellers (1983), Lynne Thornton (Author), ACR Édition.
An exhibition of French art (1944), National Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874), Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Continental Art (1940), National Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874) (Author), Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
La vie de E. Dinet (1938), Jeanne Dinet Rollince (Author).
Art and Australia (1919), Editor Unknown (Editor), Australia.
L'Art et les artistes (1909-1910), Author Unknown (Author).
Catalogue of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales 1906 (1906), National Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874) (Author), Trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Le Salon de 1890 (1890), Armand Dayot (Author).
Le Temps (02 Jul 1890), Paul Mantz (Author).
L'art francais (28 Jun 1890), Firmin Javel (Author).
Le monde illustre (17 May 1890), R. Fernandez (Author).
Brelaus de salons (1890), Ernest Hoschédé (Author).
Revue francaise et samedi réunis (1890), Henri Pagat (Author).
L'artiste (1890), Leonce Bénédite (Author).
Paris Salon (1890), Editor Unknown (Editor), Publisher unknown.
Figaro (1890), Author Unknown (Author).
Le Salon de 1890 (1890), Maurice Hamel (Author).
Revue des deux mondes, vil 3 (1890), Georges La Fesnetic (Author).
- Exhibition history (10)
-
An exhibition of French art at the National Art Gallery of New South Wales, (04 Oct 1944–31 Oct 1944), at Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874), Art Gallery Road Domain, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 2000.
Orientalism - Delacroix to Klee, (06 Dec 1997–22 Feb 1998), at Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874), Art Gallery Rd Domain, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 2000.
Salon and Academie: the charm of tradition, (15 Nov 1984–May 1985), at Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874), Art Gallery Rd Domain, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 2000.
Salon de 1890, (1890–1890), at Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts (France), Paris, France.
Paris Salon, 1890, (1890–1890), at Paris Salon (France), Paris, France.
Loan collections of oil paintings, (1894–1894), at Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874), Art Gallery Rd Domain, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 2000.
Loan collections of oil paintings, (1894–1894), at Art Gallery of South Australia (Australia, estab. 1881), North Terrace Adelaide, South Australia, Australia 5000.
Orientalism - Delacroix to Klee, (20 Mar 1998–07 Jun 1998), at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki (New Zealand, estab. 1888), PO Box 5449 Welleslet Street Auckland, New Zealand.
Exhibition of Continental Art, (Nov 1940–Dec 1940), at Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874), Art Gallery Rd Domain, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 2000.
Loan collections of oil paintings, (Sep 1894–Sep 1894), at National Gallery of Victoria [Swanston Street] (Australia, estab. 1869, closed 1968), Swanston Street Melbourne Victoria Australia 3000.