Private Collection (from circa 1975)
Acquired from the above by the present owner

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This painting is unlined and the paint layer has been cleaned. The cracking, however, is quite visible and perhaps a lining might be appropriate at this time. On the reverse there is a patch that addresses a horizontal damage in the white gowns of the figures standing on the far right. Apart from this restoration, there are very few other retouches of any note. The lining will certainly correct any cosmetic issues that are slightly visible currently.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Without doubt, the two greatest sources of fascination for early European travelers to the Middle East were the harem and the dancing girl.  Eyewitness accounts of the former institution were rarely possible, due to its sacrosanct nature, but opportunities to view the performances of local dancers abounded.  (Indeed, by the middle of the nineteenth century, a trip to the region was considered woefully incomplete without an evening of raqs sharqi, or Middle Eastern dance.)  In literature, the figure of the dancing girl took on an almost superhuman role: tales of her extraordinary performative feats left readers breathless with enthusiasm and (suspended) disbelief.  Though the subject was equally popular in paint, seldom did it evoke such intense emotion. Dancers' poses were often stilted, or resembled too closely the well-known printed sources from which they were derived.  In the present work, however, Juan Gimenez y Martin effectively captures the exuberance, the energy, and the wonder of the woman's solo dance.  Puffs of incense seem to lift the dancer from the floor, leaving her slippers to dangle in mid-air – and the spectators in awe.  The artist's obvious passion for his subject, and his valiant effort to include all those exo🐈tic, incidental details that contemporary audiences craved, seems to have overridden factual care: a Qur'an stand on the right hand side of the composition has been improbably repurposed as a convenient hold-all.

This 🐼catalogue♔ note was written by Dr. Emily M. Weeks.