One of the most popular genres in which many outstanding artists worked was orientalism, that is, paintings revealing the beauty and originality of the East: all sorts of scenes from oriental life, landscapes with majestic minarets and oriental bazaars, images of exquisite naked concubines, portraits and sketches of warlike bashi-bazouks and other residents in their exotic and unusual for Europeans clothes. It is not surprising that there was always a demand for such works in Europe, and orientalist paintings sold well. We will talk about the most famous orientalist artists in this article.
Eugene Delacroix. Moroccan Saddling a Horse. 1855.
Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863). He traveled to the East several times, visited Algeria and then Morocco. What he saw there impressed him so much that Delacroix declared: "the missing link of civilization should be sought in the East", hinting that Western pragmatism and the desire for innovation should be supplemented with original Eastern wisdom, which would balance out some of the negative aspects inherent in the Western way of life and worldview.
Eugene Delacroix. The Death of Sardanapalus
His travelling companion was Charles de Mornay, a very influential diplomat who was friends with many eastern rulers, such as Sultan Moulay Abd ar-Rahman. Thanks to such noble patrons, Delacroix gained access to their harem.
Eugene Delacroix. Arab Women in Their Apartments
True, there was no talk of direct contact with the concubines, and Delacroix watched them through an open door and secret rooms. However, what he saw was enough to create impressive paintings, and since the concubines and oriental women did not know that they were being spied on, their behavior was as natural as possible.
Vasily Vereshchagin. Triumph
Vasily Vereshchagin. Shir-Dor Madrasah on Registan Square in Samarkand
Vasily Vereshchagin (1836-1904) is deservedly considered the main orientalist in our painting. Moreover, he painted in a rare genre of critical orientalism, his paintings were mercilessly honest, but at the same time he managed to reject many of the ideas that were prevalent in Russia about eastern people as ignorant savages with their own customs. He captured many features of life in Turkestan and Central Asia, and later even reached Japan. Vereshchagin demonstrated elements of orientalist culture at various exhibitions: weapons, stuffed animals, fabrics, birds and animals, and even weapons.
Vasily Vereshchagin. A rich Kyrgyz hunter with a falcon.
Frederick Arthur Bridgman (1847-1928) was an American orientalist artist. He lost his father at the age of three. His mother took him to New York City out of fear of conflict between the North and the South. Soon Frederick became an engraver's apprentice, but despite his success, he began to devote more time to painting. In 1866, with the financial support of Brooklyn businessmen, he went to France, where he became a student of Jean-Léon Gérôme.
Frederick Arthur Bridgman. The Amusement of the Assyrian King. 1878
Frederick spends the winter of 1872-1873 in Spain and Algeria, and the following year visits North Africa - Egypt. Here he paints fragments of street life in Cairo and monuments of Islamic culture, as well as scenes based on his travels. The peak of his career came in 1881, when his solo exhibition was held at the American Art Gallery, which presented more than 300 of his works. Three of the artist's most iconic paintings stand out: "The Funeral of the Mummy", "The Procession of the Sacred Bull of Anubis" and "Consolation of the Assyrian King".
Frederick Arthur Bridgman. The Reclining Beauty
Nasreddin Dinet (birth name: Alphonse-Etienne Dinet (1861-1929) - a popular French orientalist artist, who later received the second name Nasreddin, which already testifies to the fact that Dinet became one of his own in the East, and not every Western orientalist artist managed to do this. After graduating from the Higher School of Art and the Académie Julian, Dinet looked for his own genre and themes for paintings.
Nasreddine Dinet. Portrait of Slimane Ben Ibrahim with decorations by Nichan El Anouar and Palmes Academic. 1910
Nasreddin Dinet. Abdel Gurem and Nour El Ain (Slave of Love and Light of the Eyes). 1900
In 1884, in search of inspiration, he traveled to southern Algeria. What he saw there impressed the young artist so much that Dinet painted a series of orientalist paintings depicting beautiful concubines and warlike oriental men.
Nasreddine Dinet. Bathers Wrestling
His paintings are distinguished by their bright colors and meticulous attention to detail. They are even of interest to ethnographers, as they are as authentic as old photographs. It is no wonder that Dinet was awarded the Legion of Honor, and he became so accustomed to the Eastern culture and way of life that he converted to Islam and changed his name to Nasreddin.
Nasreddin Dinet. Rausch. 1901
Nasreddin Dinet. Girls wring out the washing.
Nasreddin Dinet. Young bathers at the edge of a wadi. 1912
William Holman Hunt (1827–1910) is known not only for his iconic religious paintings, such as The Light of the World or the moralizing Awakening Shame, but also for his Orientalist works. They were based on his impressions from a two-year trip to Egypt. One of the most famous paintings from this period was The Scapegoat, where Hunt managed to combine Orientalism with religious painting.
William Holman Hunt: A Converted British Family Shelters a Christian Priest from Druid Persecution
William Holman Hunt. The Finding of the Savior in the Temple. 1854-1855
Ten years later, he went to the East again, this time with his wife Fanny Waugh. But this trip ended tragically: Fanny fell ill with malaria and died. However, even this did not make Hunt lose interest in the East, and he subsequently returned there several times.
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