Alexandre Gabriel Decamps French, 1803-1860

French painter, printmaker, and pioneer of Orientalist art

Born in Paris in March 1803, Decamps studied with Bouhot and Pujol and honed his skills by studying the Dutch and Flemish masters in the Louvre. In the 1820s, his travels to Greece, Turkey, and North Africa sparked a lifelong passion for Orientalist subject matter.

He made a sensation at the Paris Salon of 1831 with works like The Turkish Patrol, introducing vivid, everyday scenes from the East. His loose brushwork, dramatic lighting, and range—from biblical subjects to witty monkey caricatures—earned him acclaim as the “father of Orientalism.” Decorated as a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 1839, he later won the Grand Medal at the 1855 World’s Fair.

For many years he divided his time between Paris and Fontainebleau, eventually settling in the latter. In 1860, he died after a tragic fall from his horse. Today, his art—held in collections such as the Louvre and the Wallace Collection—is celebrated for its pioneering spirit, its bold Romanticism, and its fresh, empathetic vision of the East.