Man and boy in Algiers

Man and Boy in Algiers, painted in 1887, documents Zorn's visit to North Africa during a period when many European artists were drawn to Algeria and Morocco by the quality of light and the visual novelty of Islamic urban culture. The Orientalist current in European painting had been running strongly since Delacroix's 1832 Moroccan journey, and by the 1880s the trip to Algiers was a rite of passage for artists seeking the brilliant colours and contrasting shadows of North African street life. Zorn's image of a man and boy — possibly a father and son, possibly a guide and his charge — captures a street or market encounter with the directness he brought to all his figure subjects, resisting the more exoticised and fantasy-laden approach of traditional Orientalism. The oil on canvas medium suited the quick documentation of a scene observed in the Algerian city, and the work stands as evidence of Zorn's range beyond his Scandinavian home territory.

Oil on canvas with rapid, direct observation of the specific quality of Algerian light — bright, bleaching, and casting dense shadows. The colour relationships of this North African palette — intense blue sky, white-washed walls, and the warm flesh tones of its diverse inhabitants — differ markedly from Zorn's Nordic studies and reveal his adaptability.