Reaching Beyond our Borders: Oriental Influences on European Art during the 19th Century

During the 19^th century, the African continent beckoned distant European travelers to explore and colonize the terrain in the name of their homeland. European countries, such as France and Great Britain, reached the shores of Africa and quickly established new boundaries in order to maintain their newly acquired territory. As Europeans came upon different and previously unknown cultures, a new fascination emerged amongst people over the exotic nature of the colonies. Therefore, I have selected my blog post to cover the theme of Orientalism and its allure to a European audience.

Figure 1

The "Orient", a term used by Europeans to refer to the Mediterranean area, North Africa, Turkey, and the Middle East, became a massive influence on European artists who travelled to these areas. The painting titled The Snake Charmer (late 1860’s) by the French painter Jean-Léon Gérôme, creates a scene where the eyes of a European viewer is instantly captured by the mystical nature of the composition (Figure 1). The blatant nudity of the young boy, who stands with his back to the viewer, clearly contrasts with the richly blue tinted tilled wall and the seated men in the background of the painting. Artists started interjecting orientalist imagery and iconography into their work due to their exposure to the culture. However, this inclusion presented as problematic because European artists did not fully understand the cultural components surrounding the subject matter of their painting. They were painting the "Orient" through European eyes rather than capturing the true essence of the culture.

Additionally, it is imperative to consider the audience’s experience and reaction to compositions depicting such foreign imagery. As these paintings depicted new and mysterious subject matters and since many where uninformed of cultural practices outside their own, these works imposed the illusion onto European viewers that they were experiencing an imagined reality. As seem with The Snake Charmer, these paintings are also highly dramatic. This is accomplished through the utilization of their Oriental subject matter as well as their dynamic compositional qualities such as the use of bright colors, lines, use of space, and utilization of foreign architecture.
      This theme relates to idea of borders because European artists implemented Oriental architecture, customs, and subject within their paintings. This transaction of iconography was made possible through the increase of travels conducted by Europeans. Oriental culture traversed the threshold of its native lands and extended its reach into Europe and across its countries’ borders. This ultimately created hybrid compositions that assimilated Oriental imagery, which artists tailored to their European audience. I am looking forward to conducting more research on this topic. What I would like to investigate and learn more about surrounds the social acceptance of these paintings by European audiences. I wonder what a 19^th century French aristocrat would say about The Snake Charmer. Would he reject the image due to its foreign qualities or would he accept it as a form of artistic expression? There are questions I would like to investigate over the course of the semester.