ARTHUR STRASSER (AUSTRIAN, 1854-1927)

Trained at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Vienna, Strasser also spent several years between 1881-1883 in Paris refining his craft. Earlier in his career the sculptor belonged to the Naturalist movement, observing and depicting subjects faithfully rather than idealizing or stylizing. However, following a trip to Cairo in 1892, Strasser became greatly influenced by the perceived exoticism of the East, and continued to return to this theme through the remainder of his career. His travels clearly inspired the present depiction of Cleopatra which also shows the influence of Lawrence Alma-Tadema’s last great flourishing of Orientalism, The Finding of Moses, painted in 1904, which depicts several male attendants in white loincloths carrying the Pharaoh's daughter in an elaborately decorated chair.