Les Portes de Fer
Painting
1846 (painted)
1846 (painted)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
On 28 October 1839 Dauzats accompanied a division of the French army, consisting of 3,000 men, through the smaller of the two gorges, known as the Portes de Fer (Gates of Iron), which cut through the Jurjura mountains in Kabylie, Algeria. Their journey from Setif to Algiers was part of a wider French operation, led by the due d'Orleans, to establish political and military hegemony in Algeria.
Dauzats's composition makes full use of the dramatic potential of the scenery. The dark rock walls of the defile fill the picture space almost entirely, towering over the tiny figures of the soldiers, and creating a feeling of claustrophobia. The favourite romantic theme of the insignificance of man in the face of the mighty forces of nature is a recurrent one in Dauzats's work. He painted several views of the Portes de Fer in both oil and watercolour, including five that were reproduced for the Journal de l'Expedition des Partes de Fer (1841), compiled by the poet Charles Nodier. Powerful and atmospheric compositions such as these have established a significant place for Dauzats in the history of French Orientalism.
Dauzats's composition makes full use of the dramatic potential of the scenery. The dark rock walls of the defile fill the picture space almost entirely, towering over the tiny figures of the soldiers, and creating a feeling of claustrophobia. The favourite romantic theme of the insignificance of man in the face of the mighty forces of nature is a recurrent one in Dauzats's work. He painted several views of the Portes de Fer in both oil and watercolour, including five that were reproduced for the Journal de l'Expedition des Partes de Fer (1841), compiled by the poet Charles Nodier. Powerful and atmospheric compositions such as these have established a significant place for Dauzats in the history of French Orientalism.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Les Portes de Fer (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | Watercolour touched with bodycolour |
| Brief description | Watercolour 'Les Portes de Fer' [The Iron Gates], 1846, by Adrien Dauzats |
| Physical description | A watercolour showing a detachment of the French Army passing through the defile called Les Portes de Fer near Kabilye in Algeria |
| Dimensions |
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| Styles | |
| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Credit line | Purchased with the assistance of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, Art Fund, Shell International and the Friends of the V&A |
| Object history | This object belonged to Rodney Searight who noted:- `Bt fr Valenti, April 1967....£20'. [It once belonged to the Duc de Montpensier.] |
| Historical context | This is one of several views by Dauzats in oil and watercolour of one of the famous defiles, known as the Portes de Fer (Biban al-Hadid), cutting through the Jurjura mountains in Kabylie, Algeria. Five large watercolours were exhibited at the Salon in 1841 (472-476), including a version of SD301, Troisième muraille des Portes de Fer, no. 4 of the series; (all now at Versailles). Cf. also two watercolours in Mackinnon & Strachey, An Exhibition of English and French Drawings and Watercolours, 1983 (12 & 13) and Plates 167-71 in Nodier, 1844. Dauzats left Sétif on 25 October 1839 with a division of the French army. The 3000 men passed through La Petite Porte, the smaller of the two gorges, on 28 October, on their way to Algiers: see Nodier, 1844. |
| Places depicted | |
| Summary | On 28 October 1839 Dauzats accompanied a division of the French army, consisting of 3,000 men, through the smaller of the two gorges, known as the Portes de Fer (Gates of Iron), which cut through the Jurjura mountains in Kabylie, Algeria. Their journey from Setif to Algiers was part of a wider French operation, led by the due d'Orleans, to establish political and military hegemony in Algeria. Dauzats's composition makes full use of the dramatic potential of the scenery. The dark rock walls of the defile fill the picture space almost entirely, towering over the tiny figures of the soldiers, and creating a feeling of claustrophobia. The favourite romantic theme of the insignificance of man in the face of the mighty forces of nature is a recurrent one in Dauzats's work. He painted several views of the Portes de Fer in both oil and watercolour, including five that were reproduced for the Journal de l'Expedition des Partes de Fer (1841), compiled by the poet Charles Nodier. Powerful and atmospheric compositions such as these have established a significant place for Dauzats in the history of French Orientalism. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | SD.301 |
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| Record created | January 6, 2000 |
| Record URL |
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