NEW YORK, NY.- After Japanese ports reopened for trade in 1853, European art embraced the influence of Asian aesthetics. Two paintings that demonstrate this enthusiasm for oriental motifs feature in Bonhams’ 19th century European Paintings auction, which will take place at Bonhams New York on May 6.

One example, The green pillow by Arthur Wardle (1864-1949), a British artist and prolific painter of animals, shows a mother cat and her two kittens lying on a green silk pillow that is decorated with an oriental design. A delicate Japanese fan showing cherry blossom lies nearby. It is a typical tour-de-force from Wardle, showing his masterly brushwork and eye for 19th century domestic detail. Estimated at $25,000 – 35,000.

Another example is by Gustave Leonhard De Jonghe and titled Awaiting the suitor (est. $20,000 – 30,000). The painting depicts two women standing on a Turkish carpet, looking out of a window through which light pours into the otherwise dimly-lit room, waiting for potential suitors to arrive. Behind them is a Japanese lacquer cabinet, and perched on top is a Chinese Foo Dog and a small model of a kimono-clad woman. Further away is an Asian-inspired ovoid vase, its mixed-metal surface reflecting the sunlight filtering through the nearby window. De Jonghe was known for his portraits of high society glamor whose work reflected a craze that had gripped many painters of the latter part of the 19th century, Japonism.

Other notable highlights that continue with this theme are:

· French orientalist painter, Alphonse Etienne Dinet’s Fillette bouvant à la source (est. $40,000 – 60,000). In this work, a young, Algerian girl drinks from a stream that spills on the rocky ground. Dinet immersed himself in Arab culture, from learning the language to understanding Islam, in order to more fully understand his subjects.

· A portrait of a young woman in Eastern costume by William Clarke Wontner (1857-1930), estimated at $30,000 – 50,000. The oil painting portrays a European woman wearing a Persian costume.

Madalina Lazen, Senior Specialist comments, “There is a long history in Western art of fascination with Eastern motifs and, indeed, the influence of the East has endured well into the present day. This attraction was certainly at its height in the late 19th century, as many of the fascinating paintings in this sale demonstrate.”

The auction will be held at 1pm.