![Albert Janesch - A Busy Bazaar [1918]](http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5592/14605725337_21e1de02c8_o.jpg)
In the beginning of World War I, the twenty-five year old Janesch (1889 - 1973) travelled to Turkey, an ally of his native Austria, serving as a war artist. Soon after Janesch met up with fellow artist Fritz Grotemeyer, employed in recording scenes from the front at Suez, and the two then travelled to Alepo, Syria in early 1916. A Busy Bazaar exemplifies Janesch's documentary style, every detail of the bustling market, here a crossroads of cultures, recorded in fine detail and vibrant colour from a merchant haggling his tableware to a punch about to be thrown in the background. Overall, little is known of Janesch's exact agenda during the War and soon after, but surviving drawings suggest the artist travelled to Beirut and Damascus, while portraits of Sultan Mehmed and Prince Osman Fouad (now held by the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, Vienna) further point to the extent of his travels.
[Sold for $30,000 at Sotheby’s, New York - Oil on canvas, 108.5 x 140 cm]