Traveling Beyond our Borders

We are all familiar with the allure of the exotic and mystical. As images of distant, tropical, and unfrequented locations flood our daily lives, the prospect of traveling tantalizes contemporary individuals. These pictures enter our reality through travel blogs, social media, and television series that allow viewers to envision themselves walking down the streets of Barcelona or relaxing on the sandy beaches in the Maldives. When I imagine the street markets of Morocco, I can almost spell the aroma of the fragment spices permeate the air and hear the cries of the merchants. As a society that has been exposed to visual imagery depicting worldly elements outside our own culture either though film, photographs, or personal research, a traveler will have a sense of how their destination will appear even if they have never previously visited the country. However, this was not always the case. People in the 19^th century did not have the luxury to conduct a quick Google search before their travels to inform themselves about their destination. In the past, people relied on paintings created by artist who had ventured out of their hometowns to the distant shores of the African continent and European colonies. These compositions became windows into the world beyond their own societies and attempted to broaden the average European’s cultural horizons. Jean-Léon Gérôme’s The Snake Charmer (late 1860’s) presented as such an informative work of art that exhibited unknown cultural traditions to a 19^th century European audience (figure 1).

Figure 1

            Gérôme was notorious for being a meticulous painter, both with the movement of his brush and the depiction of his subject matter. In 1873, his studiousness earned him the reputations as a “scientific picture maker” by an American art critic. [1] This label reflects the trust that viewers placed upon Gérôme’s compositions because they believed his compositions depicted reality and the actual practices of his subjects. However, such paintings created by European artist inaccurately depict the “Orient” and their people because the painter was illustrating practices without complete cultural and societal knowledge. These images were not accurately representative of the culture but rather illustrated the fantasized “Western” version of the Orient. Thus, a European viewer is not beholding an image of the “Orient” when observing The Snake Charmer but rather Gérôme’s imaginary idea of the culture.

            It is also clear that The Snake Charmer holds political messages, which were subliminally projected unto viewers. Oriental paintings expressed Western superiority though their depictions of oriental individuals in a demoralizing manner that went against the European standard of acceptable social behavior. Gérôme’s painting depicts a group of men that are watching a young boy preforming with a large snake, which is warped around his nude figure. As the men gaze at the naked boy, a European viewer would consider this a scandalous and outrageous practice. A proper 19^th century Englishmen would never consider a performance of a boy cavorting with a snake as a form of entertainment. If they did find this prospect exciting or tantalizing, it would not be socially accepted to attend such a performance. Thus, Gérôme has depicted morally inferior individual because they attend and practice such vial and sinful traditions according to European standards.

Not only does Gérôme’s subjects present as lesser beings but the architectural environment of his scene also demonstrates Western superiority. The way the artist has painted the beautifully intricate tile wall, which is cracked and faded, gives off the notion of cultural neglect and comments “on the corruption of contemporary Islamic society.” [2] The ill-repaired tiles then become another indicators for Western supremacy, as the West would never “let their own cultural treasures sink into decay.” [3]

After researching The Snake Charmer and the characteristics of other paintings depicting the “Orient,” I am left with an unsettling feeling towards the genre. At first glance, I really liked Gérôme’s painting. The intricate details of the richly decorated tile wall, the realistic qualities of the figures, and the mystical atmosphere of their actions presents as aesthetic qualities that grabs my attention. After researching the painting, I have come to understand not to blindly accept these paintings as depicting the truth but rather the West’s idealized notion of the “Orient.” These images were utilized to solidify Western superiority and become images of fantasy and mystery rather than depictions of the true Orient and its inhabitance. Thus, these created unrealistic expectations for European travelers and falsely advertise the “Oriental” culture. 

[1] Nochlin 1989, 37.

[2] Ibid, 38.

[3] Ibid, 39.

Nochlin, Linda. "The Imaginary Orient." In The Politics of Vision: Essays on Nineteenth-Century Art and Society, 33-59. New York: Harper & Row, 1989.