Khan in Algiers

A khan was a type of caravanserai — a roadside inn providing shelter for travellers, merchants, and their animals on trade routes throughout North Africa and the Middle East. Fromentin depicted such urban and semi-urban architectural spaces to balance his more celebrated landscape subjects, and a khan in Algiers would have been directly observed during his time in the city. The undated canvas in the Museum of Fine Arts Boston represents an interior world of shade, commerce, and daily activity within a characteristically North African architectural setting. Covered courtyards and arcaded galleries, the characteristic features of such establishments, offered Fromentin the opportunity to work with filtered, dappled light rather than the open glare of his desert subjects. This kind of architectural genre subject complemented his equestrian and landscape paintings and found ready appreciation among collectors drawn to the full range of Orientalist subject matter.

The khan's interior setting allows Fromentin to explore the challenge of architectural shadow and filtered light, with strong tonal contrasts between shaded arcades and light-struck courtyard areas. Figures within the space are subordinated to the architectural context. The warm ochre and sandy tones of Algerian vernacular construction dominate the palette.