Portrait of a Young Egyptian Girl by Franz Xavier Kosler

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Franz Kosler was a renowned artist from Vienna in late 19th century. When his first exhibition was held in Cairo, Egypt, he got rapid fame in the country.

Here we are looking at one of his paintings from Egyptian tours. It’s an oil-on-canvas artwork from 1900. The portrait centralizing an Egyptian girl demonstrates the cultural attire of women in the region.

Kosler has used a fine arrangement of colors using red as the prominent one to direct viewer eyes on the subject. The grey background helps us to focus on the subject which is looking suspiciously in other direction. Various shades of light and shadow are delineated so perfect that the tone of every object looks natural.

When we try to read the facial expressions, the dark suspicious eyes and half opened mouth reflect the curiosity, the girl is having in her mind. As if, she has suspected something interesting. Maybe thinking about some unwanted things she just saw or just plainly looking at something out of curiosity. The reason could be various, but artist surely has grabbed our attention at the adolescent girl’s misty eyes.

Generally, artists try to depict any culture by its most affluent and shiny side. But this simple, curious and beautiful girl’s portrait says another story. As if, Kosler was giving some spotlight to the beauty of ordinary people, which was lost in the glamorous glittering of the high-class society.