Gustave Achille Guillaumet studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris and received his first medal there in 1861. In the Paris Salon the artist received awards in 1865, 1867, 1872, and also at the Universal Exposition. He was also awarded the Légion d'honneur.

Fascinated with Algeria, Guillaumet visited ten times, traveling to Mascara, Oran, and Kabylie. Aware of the problems surrounding Algeria during the time of his visits, Guillaumet focused his attention on the pageantry of life and the austerity of the Algerian desert. In the years 1879 to 1884 the artist's works were put together in an anthology of Algerian pictures.

Guillaumet was not only an artist, but a man of letters, his writing appearin...