Rudolf Ernst was an Austrian artist. Despite working extensively in both printmaking and ceramics, Ernst is best remembered for his Orientalist paintings based on his extensive travels throughout Morocco, Egypt, and Istanbul. Ernst’s work often focuses on one or two central figures, romantically set in and around fantastical Islamic North African mosques and painted in warm yellow and orange hues, and is often compared to the work of his friend, the fellow Orientalist painter Ludwig Deutsch. The people in Ernst’s paintings are typically elaborately costumed and engaged in sentimentalized scenes of daily life, depicting harem guards, princes, merchants, and elegant women reclining on luxurious terraces. Born in Vienna, Austria on...