The Guard 

Jean-Joseph-Benjamin Constant made "The Guard" with oil on canvas, a common pairing for academic painting of the late 19th century. Here, the artist has captured an imagined scene, likely based on observations from his travels to North Africa. But rather than focus on the exoticism of the subject, I’d like to direct your attention to the material qualities of the painting itself. Notice the artist’s brushwork, particularly in the rendering of the figure's clothing. The loose, gestural strokes suggest a rapid, almost impatient application of paint, and this infuses the scene with a sense of immediacy, as if captured in a fleeting moment. This approach speaks to Constant's training in the academic tradition, where capturing the likeness of a subject was paramount. But it also hints at a more modern sensibility, one that values the expressive potential of paint itself. While this work certainly reflects the colonial gaze inherent in Orientalist art, it also demonstrates a keen awareness of the materiality of painting, and the ways in which the artist's touch can convey meaning.