Orientalism: Portraying the East as Exotic

Orientalism: Portraying the East as Exotic

In the nineteenth century, an interest to know about Eastern culture and life grew in the West. The West was filled with a sense of greatness on account of what they considered to be superior and modern culture. Out of this superiority came a pull towards colonization; the East was often looked down upon as less civilized and advanced than the West, supposedly ripe for the taking as it went "untouched" by the modernization of other countries. 

The artistic movement Orientalism developed in order to meet the demand for information about and depictions of Eastern life. Artists in this social movement began painting in specific styles to create realistic portrayals of ‘exotic’ and unknown people. This art became popular and continued to perpetuate ideas of people from 'the Orient' as artists looked for and painted situations that met their expectations.

People from the East were not respected. Instead, they were seen as less human than their Western counterparts. Women were often depicted as sexual objects because of the common idea that exotic women had hyper-sexual appetites. Harems, or odalisques, starred as the subjects for many Orientalist painters that portrayed them as commodities rather than as humans. The men were often painted with animalistic features or doing what would be considered uncultured tasks. 

Orientalist paintings were depictions of Eastern culture by Westerners who either had not visited or whose only information came for short visits to the East. Their paintings did not contain any of the technology or modernization of the East, but rather present it as stuck in the past. 

Bonnat, Léon. An Egyptian Peasant Woman and Her Child,1869.

Oil on canvas. MET Museum, 87.15.97

This painting by Leon Bonnat is of an Egyptian woman carrying her naked son on her shoulders. She has a black robe, exotic face paint, and teal jewelry on, while her son is not covered except by the shawl draped over his head. Bonnat paints with naturalism to create a convincing reality, despite his painting making many assumptions about Eastern women. The viewers at the time saw the two subjects as exotic and rather inhuman, which perpetuates what they already believe about people from the East.

Gérôme, Jean-Léon. Woman at a Balcony, 1887–88.

Oil on canvas. MET Museum, 2015.282.

In this painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme, a woman leans enticingly over the railing of a balcony. She wears seductive clothing and golden necklaces. Her face, which is slightly obstructed by a sheer green veil, is remarkably almond shaped and exotic. This is an excellent example of the portrayal of women from the East as exotic and reflects the typical Western mindset of colonization by portraying the Oriental people as objects to be used.

Bonnat, Leon. An Arab Sheik, 1870. 

Oil on canvas. The Walters Art Museum, 37.173.

This painting by Leon Bonnat depicts an old Arab Sheik dressed in layers of red, yellow, and brown fabric. His face is obscured by the shadow on the darkly lit room. The subject appears to be living in a place that is stuck in the past as he sits on the carpeted, cluttered floor without any reference to technology, work, or advancement. Instead, Bonnat is painting the idea of a man that he has created in his head- an Oriental Arab Sheik that is living in an uncultured past.

Gérôme, Jean-Léon. Prayer in the Mosque, 1871. 

Oil on canvas. MET Museum, 87.15.130.

This painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme portrays a praying ceremony inside of a Mosque. In the dusty, bird filled Mosque stand rows of man praying. One man in particular is not dressed but instead only wears a loincloth. Gérôme’s depiction of this Mosque strips away the dignity of the people in the Orient; they are ill-advanced, willing to worship in the dirt and let the Mosque be infested by birds. He perpetuates the idea that these people are less than Westerners, dirty, and uncultured.

Henri Matisse, Odalisque with Gray Trousers, 1927. 

Oil on canvas, MET Museum. 1997.400.

Matisse used Orientalism as an opportunity to paint the female nude. His painting Odalisque with Gray Trousers depicts a reclining female nude in a harem that is decorated with exotic Eastern fabrics and patterns. Matisse is painting later in the Orientalist movement than artists like Bonnat and Delacroix and he moved away from the naturalistic style more representational painting.

The reclining pose makes the woman seem passive, an object for the Westerner to take and use.

Abdul-Hamid II Collection. The Battalion Divers at the Imperial Naval Arsenal, 1880-1893. Photograph, Library of Congress.

In opposition to the western views of the Eastern regions, Ottoman Sultan Abdul-Hamid II commissioned photographs of the Ottoman empire to show its modernization. This picture shows the divers of the Imperial Naval Arsenal with their equipment, several people are wearing their diving suits. This photograph deeply contrasts the paintings of the Orientalist movement by showing the modernism of the people from the region that are often depicted as ‘stuck in the past’.