Orientalist Art
By chance, I saw a clipping from a magazine on the wall of a photographer's darkroom of a painting, which depicted a scene in what appeared to be North Africa. It had a photographic sharpness and detail, mystery and intrigue, and a mesmerizing appeal. Without the name of the artist or the painting, I did a little sleuthing and discovered the world of Orientalist Art.
'The Bath' by Jean-Leon Gerome
After Napoleon marched into Egypt in 1798, a torrent of westerners flooded into the Near and Middle East. The writers who wrote about their experiences and the artists who painted what they saw became known as the Orientalists. They traveled through Turkey, Iraq, Persia, Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine, Arabia and North Africa. With time this became an art movement and today it is called Orientalist art.
According to Orientalist Art,
'Complicity' by Jean-Leon Gerome
Of all the paintings I found online, my favorites were painted by the French artist, Jean-Leon Gerome. According to the Orientalist Art Web site, he is the most renowned of the Orientalists. While I never found the painting that originally intrigued me in the photographer's darkroom, I think it may have been one of Gerome's works.
'Arnaut Smoking', Jean-Leon Gerome
The detail is incredible, and you just want to enter the picture and explore that mysterious world.
'An Almeh with pipe' by Jean-Leon Gerome, French. Oil, 1873.
Prostitutes were a favorite subject, but it took some street smarts and some help from the locals to pull it off. It wasn't exactly the best part of town.
Check out Orientalist Art for more paintings and fascinating commentary.
'The Bath' by Jean-Leon Gerome
After Napoleon marched into Egypt in 1798, a torrent of westerners flooded into the Near and Middle East. The writers who wrote about their experiences and the artists who painted what they saw became known as the Orientalists. They traveled through Turkey, Iraq, Persia, Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine, Arabia and North Africa. With time this became an art movement and today it is called Orientalist art.
According to Orientalist Art,
This movement spanned over a century and included hundreds of known artists. Many of them were giants of the art world and created beautiful paintings that seem almost photographic in detail. Many of them took incredible risks and endured considerable hardship. Disease was the greatest hazard and gun battles with bandits were commonplace. At other times they were received with the greatest kindness and made lasting friendships.
They came from all over the world: from England, France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Russia, America, and Australia. Some of them specialized in landscapes, in archeological themes, or in people. Some of them were very religious and created biblical scenes, some specialized in military history. Others recorded the flora and fauna of the Near and Middle East. Encompassing many different painting styles and political leanings, the only generalization that can be made about them is that they were extremely diverse.
'Complicity' by Jean-Leon Gerome
Of all the paintings I found online, my favorites were painted by the French artist, Jean-Leon Gerome. According to the Orientalist Art Web site, he is the most renowned of the Orientalists. While I never found the painting that originally intrigued me in the photographer's darkroom, I think it may have been one of Gerome's works.
'Arnaut Smoking', Jean-Leon Gerome
The detail is incredible, and you just want to enter the picture and explore that mysterious world.
'An Almeh with pipe' by Jean-Leon Gerome, French. Oil, 1873.
Prostitutes were a favorite subject, but it took some street smarts and some help from the locals to pull it off. It wasn't exactly the best part of town.
Check out Orientalist Art for more paintings and fascinating commentary.
Labels: arts
posted by Elizabeth at 7:00 PM
3 Comments:
Fascinating indeed. Apart from the fact that these are beautiful works of fine art, they are almost the "documentary" of the times.
And: "For centuries the West had feared and hated the Islamic world; slowly the Orientalists changed that by portraying Middle Easterners as people rather than as the enemies of Christianity"....... is a poignant reminder of the present day situation as regards Islam.
I suppose a new breed of Orientalists is out of the question?
I hope you will continue the search for the painting that intrigued you in the first place.
Thanks for your comment, Colin. That's a great quote you found. I must have just glossed over it.
Elizabeth,
I was pleasantly surprised to see a blog on Orentalist Art. As a portrait artist and especially one who is very fond of the Orientalist school of art, you might like to see a painting I have done after Gerome's Bashi Bazouk. I just signed up today, so my site is rather empty, but keep watching for other paintings in this genre and comments about Orientalism in general.
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