Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps

Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps (March 3, 1803 – August 22, 1860) was a French painter noted for his Orientalist works.

Decamps was born in Paris. In his youth he travelled in the East, and reproduced Oriental life and scenery with a bold fidelity to nature that puzzled conventional critics. His powers, however, soon came to be recognized, and he was ranked along with Delacroix and Ingres as one of the leaders of the French school. At the Paris Exhibition of 1855 he received the grand or council medal. Most of his life was passed in the neighborhood of Paris. He was fond of animals, especially dogs, and indulged in all kinds of field sports.

He died in 1860 in consequence of being thrown from a horse while hunting at Fontainebleau.

Decamps was the founding father of Orientalism since he revealed everyday Oriental life in the 1831 Salon in Paris. His subjects and style with strong contrast of light and thick material became the reference for painters but also photographers and writers.

He was the most influential painter on Orientalism and was proclaimed the chief of the new Orientalist School.