The Qanun Player 1903

Ludwig Deutsch painted this scene, "The Qanun Player", in the late 19th or early 20th century with what looks like meticulously applied oil paint on canvas. Just look at how Deutsch layers the ochres and reds and browns to build the walls! I can imagine him, carefully mixing these pigments, probably imported from halfway across the world, to match the subtleties of the scene before him. The layering of the ornate geometrical decorations must have taken so long, it is incredible. And the way he renders the light filtering through the patterned window... It's all about capturing that fleeting moment, that atmosphere. Artists are always inspired by other artists, I'm thinking here of the French Orientalist painter Jean-Léon Gérôme, who also took the Middle East as a source of inspiration. In painting, we see, think, feel, and express, but in the end, all we ever really do is look at each other.