New to me

[james_davis_nicoll]

This is a painting by Édouard Frédéric Wilhelm Richter, who I had never heard of. As well, it's an example of "orientalist" painting, which I had also never heard of. Seems to be depictions of the east (starting at the middle east), as imagined by a painter whose online bio does not mention having ever visited the east.

Some interesting detail work in the expanded version.

Comments

[jessie_c]

So the phenomenon of unqualified white men having an Opinion(tm) about things they know not is not entirely new...

[sturgeonslawyer]

Yeah, Orientalism was a big thing in 19th-early 20th century art, and not only in painting: it had a big influene on Art Deco.

Even van Gogh did some "orientalist" stuff, including his lovely Almond Blossom. Other painters who employed or were significantly influenced by it would include Klee, Bellini, Ingres, Delacroix, Matisse, Kandinsky, and ... Picasso? Well, yes.

[oh6]

Well There's Your Problem has an entertaining excerpt from a bonus episode on art nouveau architecture that details an incident in the history of Orientatalism.

[dragoness_e]

I greatly enjoy Orientalist art, particularly from artists who actually traveled in the Middle East. It's vivid and colorful, and offers interesting glimpses into history, particularly in period paintings, watercolors and sketches of ancient ruins that have since been further dismantled or excavated.

[anne]

Edward Said wrote a whole book about it! Called _Orientalism_, oddly enough. It was a staple of graduate literature programs in the '90s, and I assume it still is, given how little the world has changed.

[spiralsheep]

She does have an awful lot of hatpins, doesn't she?

[(Anonymous)]

Left knuckles look a bit raw. And is that a bruise running up the left forearm? How did that happen?

[benbenberi]

"Orientalism" was a big thing in 19c art. First-hand experience decidedly optional.

Here's an article with links to a bunch of examples:
https://www.metmuseum.org/essays/orientalism-in-nineteenth-century-art

And another, with more examples:
https://www.mayfairgallery.com/blog/orientalist-paintings-19th-century-fantasies-east/

[wild_patience]

Re Orientalism, I can't help thinking of the early 20th century hoochie-koochie dancers in shows, giving themselves performance names like Salome. (Irving Berlin wrote a song, "Sadie Salome, Go Home," about the (Jewish) boyfriend chiding his girlfriend. "Don't do that dance, I tell you, Sadie! That ain't no business for a lady. Everybody knows that I'm your loving Mose. Oy, oy, oy, oy - where is your clothes?" This is available in the East Side Songbook, a bunch of Berlin's earlier songs.)