Arabs Crossing a Ford
1873
Medium
Oil on wood
Dimensions
20 x 24 1/2 in. (50.8 x 62.2 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Department
European Paintings
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Collection, Bequest of Catharine Lorillard Wolfe, 1887
Accession Number
87.15.64
Tags
Art Historical Context
Eugène Fromentin's *Arabs Crossing a Ford* (1873) captures a dynamic moment of North African daily life, with riders on horseback navigating a shallow river amid rolling hills. Painted in oil on wood—a compact panel format of 20 x 24½ inches—this intimate work evokes the vastness of the Algerian landscape through Fromentin's masterful handling of light and atmosphere. The scene's vivid details, from the rippling water to the fluid motion of horses and figures, draw viewers into an exotic yet authentic vista. Fromentin, a French artist and writer (1820–1876), was a leading figure in the Orient...