Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps - Sunset, Tombs Near Cairo - Walters 378

The composition of "A Well in the East," dated 1847, in the Wallace Collection, London (inv. no. P 263) has been reversed in this picture. The rich coloring of the sunset and the thick impasto of our picture are reminiscent of Decamps' painting. However, the lack of definition of forms at both sides of the picture, the reversal of the composition and the unusual signature in cursive script suggest that the painting is a forgery. Dewey F. Mosby in "Alexandre-Fabriel Decamps, 1803-1860" dissertation, Harvard University, 1973, illustrates a number of forgeries involving reversal of compositions (nos. 224, 24, and 62).