Charles Théodore Frère (French, 1814-1888)

In 1869, Frère was one a group of leading Orientalist artists, including Eugène Fromentin, Jean-Léon Gérôme and Narcisse Berchère, who joined the entourage of Empress Eugénie on the occasion of the opening of the Suez Canal.

Frère was much appreciated not only by European royal patrons such as the King of Württemberg, Louis-Philippe and Empress Eugénie, but also in the East, where the Ottoman rulers of Egypt granted him the honorary title of Bey.