Female Slave with a Plate of Fruit, ca. 1874

This work depicting a female slave with a plate of fruit by Jules Lefebvre was purchased at the Salon of Ghent in 1874. It is a prime example of the French art that was popular among art lovers in Ghent at that time. As a winner of the 'Prix de Rome’, Lefebvre gained notoriety in Paris in the 1860s as a painter of seductive women's portraits and erotic naked portraits with biblical and mythological references. He could compete with the likes of William Bouguereau. This painting is less provocative than some of his frontal nudes, but the exotic atmosphere and suggestive placement of the ripe fruits give this painting a distinct erotic character. Lefebvre was a lecturer at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and was also linked to the Académie Julien, where he taught William Hart, Félix Vallotton and Fernand Khnopff, among others.