An Australian painter, Ludwig Deutsch who showcased the beauty of the rich Egyptian culture through his oriental paints in the 1800s and 1900s. His excellent works of art are considered to be the most sought after by art collectors.

Ludwig Deutsch was an Austrian painter who was born in Vienna (Austria) around 1855. Deutsch came from a well-established Jewish family.

His father was a financier at the Austrian court. He studied at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts 1872-1875, and in 1878, Deutsch moved to Paris where he became strongly associated with Orientalism.

Ludwig Deutsch, The Palace Guard

He received his early art training at Academy of Fine Arts Vienna under the tutelage of Anselm Feuerbach (1875–1877). When Feuerbach retired as a teacher, In 1878 Deutsch was finally accepted to enter the class of Leopold Carl Müller.

At around this time, he may also have studied with Jean-Paul Laurens. In Paris, Deutsch made the acquaintance of artists, Arthur von Ferraris, Jean Discart and Rudolf Ernst, who became his lifelong friend. Through these friendships, Deutsch developed an interest in Orientalist art.

Ludwig Deutsch, The Smoker

His first Orientalist painting was produced in 1881. Deutsch’s first documented journeys to Africa were made in 1885, when he visited Egypt. Deutsch Like many of his contemporaries found inspiration in the North African light, colours, scenery and customs. He collected a vast quantity of Oriental objects, including tiles, furniture, arms, pipes, fabrics, and costumes which he would subsequently used in his paintings.

Ludwig Deutsch’s painting of A Royal and A Guard

He was particularly interested in capturing the rich, opulent scenes of the Palace and its environs. The detail in his paintings is excellent. He was prolific, producing many paintings with the same theme – prayers, guards, musicians, street vendors etc. In order to produce paintings in large volume, he created a virtual assembly line approach, using the same settings with different subjects and activities to create an impression of variety.

Ludwig Deutsch, The Inspection
Ludwig Deutsch, At the Mosque

Many of Ludwig Deutsch’s paintings are now in the Shafik Gabr Collection. Amongst his best-known works are: The Scribe, painted 6 years after Paul Joanowits did Bashi-Bazouks Before a Gateway but in the same location, and Musical Interlude. Among Austrian Orientalist painters, his works are considered to be some of the most sought after by collectors.