#orientalism

Artist Stories

Vasily Vereshchagin—Journey through India

Vasily Vereshchagin was a notable Russian soldier, artist, and writer from the 19th century. He was an outspoken critic of war who reformed the genre...

Maya M. Tola 21 October 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The Obsequies of an Egyptian Cat by John Weguelin

Here is a Masterpiece Story to honor our beloved cats. The Obsequies of an Egyptian Cat by John Weguelin presents an imaginative interpretation of an...

Alexandra Kiely 7 July 2024

Art History 101

Orientalism – Quick Explanation

19th-century Europeans were fascinated by the Near East and North Africa. Everything began roughly around the time of the Napoleonic invasion of...

Magda Michalska 3 July 2024

Romanticism

Eugène Delacroix in 10 Paintings: Poetry, Passion, and Power

Early 19th-century French art was a battle between cool, crisp, precisely observed Neoclassicism and Romanticism’s passion for emotion, drama,...

Catriona Miller 3 July 2024

Romanticism

The Orientalism of Eugène Delacroix – Beware of the Colors!

Eugène Delacroix was a French artist who was seen as the leader of the French Romantic school of art from the beginning of his career. 19th-century...

Zuzanna Stańska 3 July 2024

Art Travels

Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur and the Island of Gods

Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur de Merprès, better known as Jean Le Mayeur was a skilled Impressionist who was active around the early 20th century.

Maya M. Tola 22 May 2024

Painting

The Art of Getting Dressed

Throughout the centuries, artists have rendered countless captivating glimpses of the everyday rituals of women, depicting intimate moments of...

Maya M. Tola 6 May 2024

Academic Art

Constructing Racism in Western Art – Hans Makart and the Case of Cleopatra

When Netflix cast Black actress Adele James as Cleopatra in a docu-series on the life of the famous Egyptian queen, the world went viral in a heated...

Kero Fichter 29 April 2024

Realism

Eid Al-Fitr – Islamic Prayer in Art

The distinctive ritual of Islamic prayer, known as namaz (in Urdu) or salah (in Arabic) has captivated the imagination of many Orientalist painters.

Maya M. Tola 10 April 2024

Alexandre Cabanel, Cleopatra, 1887, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp, Belgium. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Cleopatra by Alexandre Cabanel

Queen Cleopatra is a popular subject today – as she was in the late 19th century. Alexandre Cabanel’s Cleopatra explores a single moment of her...

James W Singer 3 March 2024

Painting

An Ode to Sellers: Commerce in Art

Artists have frequently critiqued, celebrated, and commented on the role of sellers, shedding light on the multifaceted role commerce plays in...

Maya M. Tola 18 December 2023

Artist Stories

Osman Hamdi: The First and Last Ottoman Orientalist

The first and last Orientalist painter of the Ottoman Empire is Osman Hamdi Bey. Born in modern-day Turkey, educated in Paris, and highly regarded as...

Irina Diana Calu 11 December 2023