Collecting 101

1.

The Beginnings

Interest in Eastern culture in art long precedes the Orientalist movement and can be traced back to the quattrocento, through the Renaissance and Baroque eras. Artists such as Veronese and Rembrandt frequently drew on Eastern influences.

The emergence of Orientalism, a sub-genre of European painting, ran broadly in tandem with Romanticism and the two saw cultural and stylistic overlaps.

The roots of Orientalism cannot be divorced from political and colonial contexts. When Napoleon invaded Egypt in 1798; his intention was not only to rule the country but also to study it. This prompted both an acquisitive, but also inquisitive, interest in regions spanning North Africa, West Asia and the Ottoman Empire.

Developments in technology and transport during the 19th century improved accessibility to further-flung regions. Adventurous artists voyaged east to capture a world Western audiences had never set eyes on – a distant land drenched in vibrant colours, elaborate decorative architecture and exotic pleasures. Orientalist painting was thriving in Europe’s art academies at this time, and fell broadly under the umbrella of Academic Art.

Earlier Orientalist works captured the East as a place of extremes: untamed eroticism and volatile brutality. This expressiveness is evident in the work of Romanticist master Eugène Delacroix, who favoured movement and colour over clarity of line. As the movement evolved, paintings placed more emphasis on the charms of genre painting and ethnographic precision: lively markets, domestic interiors, mysterious harems and mosques.

2.

Main Figures of the Period

The approach of Orientalist painters can largely be divided into two halves: artists who travelled extensively throughout the East and meticulously painted from observation, and those who indulged their fantasies, envisioning the Orient from within their studio walls. French artistJean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres never travelled east but demonstrates how Orientalism sparked the imagination of Western artists.

When it came to genre painting, it was Austrian Ludwig Deutsch who triumphed, seizing public imaginations with his sophisticated depictions of contemporary life. These often saw figures set against meticulously rendered architecture and domestic interiors. His The Qanun Player (1903), which sold at Bonhams in 2019 for £1,167,062, emits a calm and pensive atmosphere with immaculate detail. Elements of the Cairene interior scene – rugs, drapery and the qanun itself – appear almost tangible.

Artists also explored settings of religious importance (both Christian and Muslim) as well as close studies of the myriad ethnic groups and social customs of the East narrated through traditional garments and architecture. Many of Charles Robertson’s works are set in Algeria, Morocco, and Egypt painted during extensive travels in North Africa. There, the British artist painted religious rituals, warfare and desert landscapes as well as vignettes of urban life as seen in The Street of the Ghoreeyah, Cairo (1878).

Other leading figures of Orientalist Art are Rudolf Ernst, Jean-Léon Gérôme, William Holman Hunt, Leopold Carl Müller, John Frederick Lewis and Gustav Bauernfeind.

3.

Media & Style

The majority of works in this category are oil paintings and works on paper. On their eastern travels, artists often sketched and made use of photography (the latter an emerging medium at the time) to ensure paintings were true to life. Many would return to their studios in the West to execute the final paintings. Those who took more creative liberties fused individual cultural characteristics into a single, universal vision of the Orient through acquired props, written description and imagination – visions beyond the constraints of reality.

Artists frequently made use of a vivid colour palette rich in oranges, golds, reds and blues. Deutsch, a master colourist, depicted the cultural opulence with academic precision and exquisite technical skill. A Dealer in Artefacts (1887) exemplifies the near-photographic clarity of Deutsch’s finish.

Some artists sought verisimilitude; others strove to capture the essence of what they saw. In general, British artists were concerned with the ethnography of what they witnessed. French painters were more liberal in approach, creating emotive and expressive works infused with exoticism, splendour and hazy outlines.

The lure and charms of the Orient have also resonated with artists of more recent movements including Pablo Picasso, Wassily Kandinsky and Henri Matisse.

4.

On the Market

Orientalist art is now a flourishing category following a dip in demand during the 20th century. Works hold particular resonance with institutional and private collectors from the wider Islamic world, and fine art museums such as the Louvre Abu Dhabi and Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia continue to fuel demand.

During the 19th century, indigenous eastern artists rarely narrated contemporary life through figurative scenes. This lack of regional documentation establishes Orientalist Art as not only an important stylistic movement but also an invaluable and highly sought-after historical record. The most desirable works are those that reflect the culture of the place depicted with historical and topographical accuracy, as seen in the work of Bauernfeind.

Unlike his European peers, Turkish Orientalist Osman Hamdi Bey depicted Ottoman life through an Ottoman lens. Though still catering for a Western audience and embracing a European painting style, his compositions bear an authenticity that sets his work apart in Orientalism. This appeal was represented in the 2019 Bonhams sale of Hamdi Bey’s Young Woman Reading, which achieved £6.69m, a world record result for the artist.

Looking to buy Orientalist Art? Our 19th Century and Orientalist Paintings team can help you find the right work at auction or via a private sale. Contact us

5.

Building a Collection

When it comes to Orientalist Art, context is crucial. In a movement with diverse approaches and styles, it is worth looking into the history of each artist, and how immersed they were in the cultures they depicted. For example, French artist Alphonse-Étienne Dinet, a founding member of the Société des Peintres Orientalistes became so captivated by his experiences of North African culture that he converted to Islam.

The leading figures of the movement continue to reap high rewards at auction, but lesser-known artists are also enjoying overdue recognition and often hold immense market growth potential. Paintings that exemplify immense technical skill achieve high results at auction, as do those that accurately chronicle historical narratives.

Relevant literature can also offer valuable context. Books such as Edward Said’s Orientalism (1978), which although controversial, continues to be an important reference for the movement, and James Parry’s more recent Orientalist Lives: Western Artists in the Middle East, 1830-1920 (2018) are good starting points.

As with all collecting categories, it is important to consider condition, provenance and exhibition history. Keeping an eye out for exhibitions showcasing Orientalist Art can help in identifying which aspects of the movement resonate the most. Inspired by the East held at the British Museum in collaboration with the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia in 2019 charted the history and some of the most seminal works in the movement.

Visiting Orientalist museum collections such as Qatar Museums’ soon-to-open Orientalist Museum or the Orientalist Museum Marrakech will help in understanding the gravitas of this movement.