Arabs surprised in the desert by the Simoom wind

The simoom, a violent desert wind, blows and stirs up sands made scorching by the sun's rays. Travelers lie down on the ground and wrap themselves in their burnouses to protect themselves from the scratches of the sand grains and avoid death. The harshness of the landscape, the feeling of solitude and desolation, are emphasized by a yellow-ochre monochrome painted in horizontal bands. The monotony of the colors is punctuated by the presence of men covered in fabrics that unfurl and accentuate the impression of the wind's violence. The contrast between these somber figures and the dusty desert light is striking. With remarkable economy of means and a subtle gradation of planes, François-Auguste Briard manages to capture the quintessence of the desert.
This painting is a fantastical, theatrical, and entirely imaginary scene. The artist preserves the dreamlike and timeless character that the public of the time attributed to the Orient. After his journey to the Mediterranean in In 1828, Biard continued to paint oriental subjects until the late 1830s. He then became more interested in landscapes of the Far North.