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| Artist: | Frederick August Wenderoth
American (1819-1884) |
| | Title: | Abd Al-Qadir and his Horses |
| | | Medium: | Oil on Canvas on Canvas
| | Size: | 23¼" x 29" / 34" x 40" framed | | Markings: | Signed |
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“I am Abdelkader, son of Mahieddine, son of Mustapha, son of Mohamed, son of Mokhtar, son of Abdelkader, son of Ahmed, son of Abdelkaoui, son of Youssef, son of Ahmed, son of Chabân, son of Mohamed, son of Edris ben Edris, son of Abdellah, son of Hassen, son of Houssein, son of Fatma, daughter of Mohamed the prophet of God, and wife of Ali ben Abi Taleb, cousin of the Prophet.”
— Amir `Abd al-Qadir
Amir `Abd al-Qadir al-Jaza’iri transliterated as Abd al-Kadir, Abd Elkader, or Abdelkader) is recognized and venerated as the first hero of Algeria and credited with founding the first Algerian state by uniting local tribes against the French invasion and laying the foundations of education, justice, health, the military and all basic branches of government. Not without cause, his green and white standard was adopted by the Algerian liberation movement during the War of Independence and became the national flag of independent Algeria.
The painting was executed in 1849 when Amir Abdelkader was held prisoner in France. Wenderoth would leave for New York the very same year while Amir Abdelkader would be released from exile three years later and depart for Damascus.
The horses of Amir Abdelkader were famous throughout France and greatly admired. They became the subject of numerous paintings and engravings, notoriously those of Alfred Dedreaux, a passionate equestrian painter.
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