Almée, an Egyptian Dancer

Gunnar Berndtson is one of the few Finnish artists to have attended the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Because his family was of the nobility and he had received an upper-class upbringing, he was better equipped than many of his Finnish colleagues to adapt to cultural life in France. He went to Paris in 1876 and studied with Léon Gérôme, the history painter, but was most impressed by Ernst Meissonier, who specialised in depicting historical costumes and environments. After the success of his painting The Bride's Song, Berndtson was invited in 1882 to go to Egypt as an artist contributor to Le Monde Illustré. One of the paintings made there was Almée.