Oriental Interior

Bridgman's election as a full Academician followed his highly successful New York exhibition in 1881. On May 1, 1882, an interim study was accepted by the Council as his diploma contribution pending the arrival of a more important work. "Oriental Interior" is a simpler, quieter variant of Bridgman's usual cafe type. "An Interesting Game," 1881 (Brooklyn Museum) and another work also entitled "Oriental Interior," n.d. (unlocated) show more complicated arrangements of six or seven figures engaged in communal activity. The interior here conforms well to the general description of Arab café's offered in Bridgman's 1890 book Winters in Algeria: "mud floors and walls, with soot-stained palm-tree ceilings and doors, with nooks and corners of the most curious possible conception."