Zeybek à Brousse (Bursa)

Chlebowski was born in what is now Ukraine to Polish parents and began his training in Odessa before receiving a scholarship to study in Paris under Jean-Léon Gérôme. Like Gérôme, he was fascinated by Orientalist subject matter, which would be a recurring motif for the artist throughout his career. From 1864-1876 Chlebowski resided in what was then Constantinople, working as an artist in the service of Sultan Abdülaziz. In 1881, the year after the present work was painted, he returned to Kraków, where he would reside for the rest of his life.