Romanticism: The Imaginary Orient

Romanticism in FranceThe Imaginary Orient

Jean-Leon Gerome, Naploeon and His General Staff, 1843-44

In 1798, a French army led by General Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Egypt and

occupied the country until 1801

In 1809 the French Government published a guide to Egypt that illustrated the

topography, architecture, monuments, natural life, and population of Egypt

The Dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire (1683-1924) Image courtesy of the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection of the University of Texas-Austin

As the French colonial empire expanded, curiosity about these strange and

unfamiliar places gave rise to a market for travelogues and pictures about exotic

peoples and places

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/

Charles Jervas, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, After 1716

National Gallery of Ireland

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Letters … Written during her

Travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa to Persons of Distinction,

Men of Letters, &c. … which Contain … Accounts of the Policy

& Manners of the Turks. Berlin: Sold by August Mylius, 1781

http://unitproj.library.ucla.edu/special/wildershores/turkey/turkey.

htm#a_harem

Eyewitness accounts by European travelers described customs that seemed alien

to European audiences, and were often distorted by western biases or lack of

familiarity with local customs

http://unitproj.library.ucla.edu/special/wildershores/turkey/turkey.htm#a_harem

Charles Jervas, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, After 1716

National Gallery of Ireland

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Letters … Written during her

Travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa to Persons of Distinction,

Men of Letters, &c. … which Contain … Accounts of the Policy

& Manners of the Turks. Berlin: Sold by August Mylius, 1781

http://unitproj.library.ucla.edu/special/wildershores/turkey/turkey.

htm#a_harem

This helped create an “imaginary Orient” that ultimately justified colonization on the

basis of the presumed “superiority” of European civilization

http://unitproj.library.ucla.edu/special/wildershores/turkey/turkey.htm#a_harem

Jean-Leon Gerome, The Snake Charmer and His Audience, c. 1879

Francine Clark Art Institute

An example of this kind of “imaginary Orient” can be seen in this painting by Jean-

Leon Gerome, who specialized in exotic scenes of daily life in vaguely specified

Middle Eastern locations



Set in a courtyard decorated with Islamic tile work, the painting depicts a naked

youth who charms his audience with a snake, accompanied by an older man who

plays a flute

The exotically dressed audience looks on with rapt attention, and the scene is

rendered with such specificity of detail that it seems to be based on something the

artist witnessed first hand



But the subject is a pure invention of the artist’s imagination – and one that casts a

shameful light on the behavior of these Turkish men, who seem to be puriently

exploiting an innocent young boy



Such a scene would not, in fact, have been common in Turkey during this time

period -- but the artist makes it seem as if it was



To European audiences in the 19th century, such a painting would have been taken

as “proof” of the degenerate lifestyle of the Turkish people, and justification for

European colonization

Henriette Brown, A Visit: Harem Interior, Constantinople, 1860

The Turkish Harem, where Muslim women lived in seclusion from male society,

was also a topic of intense fascination

In the European imagination, the Harem was imagined as a site of illicit sexuality,

and proof of Near Eastern degeneracy

Daniel Valentine Riviere, Phanariot Greek Ladies, c. 1840

Prera Museum

Eugene Delacroix, Reclining Odalsque (or Woman with a Parakeet), 1827

The seductive allure of the imaginary harem attracted Romantic artists like Eugene

Delacroix, as seen in this painting of an opulent odalisque (an inhabitant of a

Turkish harem), reclining seductively on a couch

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Grand Odalisque, 1814

Louvre

But it also attracted the Neoclassicist Ingres, who broke with Neoclassicism in this

painting of an odalisque in a similarly seductive setting

http://www.museedulouvre.fr/llv/oeuvres/detail_notice.jsp?CONTENT<>cnt_id=10134198673226311&CURRENT_LLV_NOTICE<>cnt_id=10134198673226311&FOLDER<>folder_id=9852723696500815&bmLocale=en


Louvre

Although Neoclassical in style, with its emphasis on cool colors, smooth finish, and

crisp drawing and design, the picture is nevertheless Romantic in subject in its

mysterious exotic setting, and its frankly erotic appeal



Louvre

The woman reclines seductively on a couch surrounded by rich silks and furs, as

she gazes at the viewer with a “come hither” expression



Louvre

She wears an oriental turban on her head, and other exotic accessories include the

peacock fan, silk curtains, and a “hookkah” pipe for smoking opium



Louvre

All of this conjures up an exotic and erotic scene that catered to colonialist

stereotypes of the “imaginary Orient”



Louvre

But when Ingres exhibited the picture at the Salon of 1819 the subject matter was

not considered offensive, as harem scenes were quite common in 19th century art



Louvre

But he was criticized for the figure’s anatomical distortions: the woman’s back is

strangely elongated, and her legs do not connect logically to the body



Louvre

The artist defended himself by claiming “artistic license.” An early champion of “Art

for Art’s Sake,” Ingres proposed that artistic style is more important than fidelity to

nature


Parmagianino, Madonna of the Long

Neck, 1535

Ufizzi

While the roots of this idea go back to 16th century Mannerism, it also anticipates

the increasing license that artists will take in the 19th and 20th centuries

Romanticism: The Imaginary Orient

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