Harry Humphrey Moore (American, 1844-1926), Curiosity

Oil on canvas, 1881, signed and dated at lower right, retaining auction label to the verso, presented in the likely original ornate giltwood frame with nameplate affixed at lower center.

Stretcher size 21 1/4 x 12 1/4 in.; Frame dimensions 28 x 19 in.

From the Collection of Gustave and Carol Ferri, New Jersey and North Carolina

Sotheby's, New York, 15 March 2000, Lot 18.

Harry Humphrey Moore was an American painter born in New York City. He became deaf at the age of three and received his education at institutions for the deaf in Philadelphia and Hartford. He studied art under Samuel Waugh in Philadelphia and later at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris under Jean-Léon Gérôme. Moore traveled widely during his artistic endeavors to Europe, North Africa, and Asia, and became particularly known for his orientalist scenes of Spain and Morocco.

In 1880, Moore became one of the first American artists to work extensively in Japan, producing over sixty paintings that captured the country's temples, gardens, and daily life. Throughout his career, Moore exhibited his works in New York, San Francisco, and Paris. He was praised by contemporaries for his authentic portrayal of diverse cultures. In his later years, he focused on portraiture, capturing images of children, affluent Americans, and European nobility, before his death in Paris in 1926.

Two small separations in the canvas, light age cracking.