Changing Representations of the Orient

                As talked about in my last post, the Western fascination with the exotic representation of Eastern culture grew in the 19^th century through orientalist paintings of harems. Eugène Delacroix’s famous painting, Women of Algiers in their Apartment, is an excellent representation of Western ideas of harems and women as being sensual and there and happy to please by their revealing dress and subservient positions. However, as Europeans grew more fascinated by North African culture, their travels to Africa increased as well. This brought more representations of the East by more painters back to Europe which created a more realistic and less fantastic and romantic representations of the culture. This is particularly true for the female painters that visited North Africa during this time.

                Male painters like Delacroix were not actually allowed to enter the harems because no men were allowed in the sacred female space. This allowed their imaginations to bloom with fantasy and ideals of the exotic and sensual spaces. However when female painters such as Henriette Browne went to Turkey in the mid-19^th century she was able to enter the harems and paint them from a first person view. These representations contrasted greatly with the men’s paintings and I believe them to be more accurate because the women actually saw life in the harems with their own eyes.

                The painting below was done by Browne during her visit to Constantinople in 1860. Browne’s representation of the harem revealed it to be a temperate space nothing like the sensual and intimate representation of the harems previously done by males. For one, all of the women are fully draped in fully concealing cloth which reveals nothing but hands and face. Compared with the revealing outfits of exposed arms legs and chests of the women in Delacroix’s painting, these women are clearly not represented as sensually aware and available. Instead, they are doing every day activities such as greeting each other and mutually bowing in respect like the two women in the front, taking care of a young child like the woman behind them, and sitting and standing around the room just spending time together. The women appear to be close at least in a respecting way because the two women are bowing to each other and the women in the back sitting against the wall is patting the girl next to hers back in a loving comforting way. In addition, the bright light and colors as well as the open space above the women because of the tall ceiling makes the room seem less cozy and intimate and more stark, cool, hard, and realistic.

Henriette Browne. A Visit to a Harem. 1860.

                Over all, I think it is important to see how the female painters of the 19^th century brought a different approach to the representation of Eastern culture because of status as a woman and their opportunity to go where men cannot. The realistic depictions of the harems began to slowly change the romanticized Western views of Eastern life. However, in both representations of the harem and the life and culture of those within there remains a mystery and a removed sensation of a bystander looking through a portal for a glimpse at a different world. So although the view of the harem may have changed, the orientalist view of the “otherness” of Eastern culture remained.

Harems and Orientalism 19th century art

In looking at paintings of the North Africa done by Delacroix and many other romantic painters during this time, I have learned that Europeans grew fascinated with other cultures and the differentiation between cultures, or Orientalism, was born. By definition “the term Orientalism is reserved in certain sectors for describing a distorted way to encounter phenomena pertaining to other cultures or civilizations, or to peoples, still subjugated or only recently liberated, located for the most part to the east of Europe” (Chuaqui, 2002). This means that the distorted representation of eastern culture, particularly in scenes of harems in 19^th century art, is considered Orientalism. To understand better, take a look at this painting of the life in a harem by Gustave Boulanger.

Gustave Boulanger. The Harem. N.D.

The bright colors of the painting bring an exciting and playful exuberance to the environment depicted of this harem. The aesthetic is pleasing to the viewer, probably because the difference of this culture to Europeans was appealing. The viewer notices the group of people sitting on the ground casually and contentedly. One woman is lounging and she is talking with the other woman who is leaning toward her giving her attention. The two women behind them are also engaging with one another and appear close and friendly. The two men sitting on the ground have serious looks on their faces and they are not engaged with each other, showing the contrast between the relational and social women and the more independent men. The child to the right is running and playing with a doll which adds a youthful spirit. The intrigue from a Western perspective was most likely due to the wealth and the “differentness” from Western life in this painting. For one, the large stone and arched architecture was very different from the homes in Europe and they are exaggerated in this painting by the size compared to the people and the lightness which attracts the eye. Also the lush landscape is filled with trees and vines that are not seen in Europe. The women are wearing beautifully colorful and silky clothes unlike anything Westerners wore and their arms and feet are exposed and their hair is down creating a sensual appeal. By making the women appear more sensual and available to the men it creates a cultural otherness that is different from Western culture. To some this was fascinating and appealing and to others it was appalling and made them feel their culture was more civilized and therefore superior.

No matter how Westerners viewed the scenes from life in North Africa the fact does not change that this was not an accurate representation of a harem in the 19^th century. The harem is conveyed as being vibrant and playful, wild, luxurious, and sensual. In reality, Muslim women were extremely temperate and they wore full garments that covered their bodies and their hair. Ultimately, the depiction of this culture is of course going to be different from Western culture, because it is, and I don’t believe that that is bad. However, the depictions are distorted for the fantasy and intrigue of the viewer which can be interpreted as being innocently romanticized or purposely creating an “otherness” to be judged.

 

 

1.       Chuaqui, Ruben, and Marc Brudzinski. "Orientalism, Anti-orientalism, Relativism." Napantla: Views Fromt the South 3.2 (2002): n. pag. Duke University Press. Web.

 

Blog Post 3

The primary focus of my blog posts thus far has been on discovering the relationship portrayed in The Duchess of Portsmouth, along with gaining a better understanding of why the Duchess may have commissioned this painting. Although not very surprising to me, in my research I have discovered that while the Duchess is a well known figure, there are no identifying clues to gaining a better understanding of who the black child-servant is accompanying her. This servant, although appearing to be close to the Duchess, has no way of being better understood, and as such can only be said to be an ornament of the portrait, with any degree of certainty. Previously I had drawn a comparison between this painting and Titian’s portrait of Laura Dianti. Upon further research I also discovered many similarly devised portraits within eighteenth-century Britain, showing that this was not only a phenomenon within France, but actually was a widely accepted and continually practiced facet of art across the globe.

            The main aim of portraits for the British was to create a great enough contrast between the main objects of the portrait in comparison to a subordinate figure. The subordinate did not necessarily need to be of African descent, but as the popularity of the African slave trade increased, this trend likewise increased. The inclusion of an African servant was intended fully to assert a sense of power, prosperity, beauty, generosity, etc. to the primary person sitting for the portrait, depending upon what the person him/herself wanted to convey. One example of such a painting is An Unknown Man, perhaps Charles Goring of Wiston, out Shooting with his Servant, created in 1765 by an unknown artist. The painting (Figure 1) shows an African servant handing his master a woodcock, which from the context of the painting, one can surmise that the dog caught and is now being passed along to the master. Similarly to the Duchess of Portsmouth, his master, possibly indicating the existence of a genial relationship, is treating the servant in this portrait fondly. This further points to the reasoning behind why the servant is well dressed and not wearing a collar of any kind. At the time it would not have been seen as a portrait of the two men; however looking at it from a modern perspective, this could be seen as both a portrait of the master and servant. However, while the identity of the master in this portrait can be estimated to be either Charles Lennox or Charles Goring, based upon the context clues of colors of clothing being adorned by the master and servant, the servant remains anonymous and probably always will.

Figure 1

            Further exemplifying this type of portraiture is Bartholomew Dandridge’s A Young Girl with an Enslaved Servant and a Dog, created in 1725 (Figure 2). In the same way as the Duchess’s portrait, the center of the picture is this girl, as her servant and dog are both looking up at her. This also brings to mind the idea that eighteenth century Europeans would have held of white Europeans being at the top of a social hierarchy of sorts, with African slaves and animals ranking lower than them. By having both in her portrait, this young girl is marking herself as higher and different from the “other” category being portrayed. This contrast would have been utilized in an effort to create whatever image of herself she wanted put in to society.

Figure 2

References:

Chadwick, Esther, and Meredith Gamer. "Figures of Empire Slavery and Portraiture in Eighteenth-Century Atlantic Britain." New Haven: Yale Center for British Art, 2014: n. pag. Print.

In my first and second blog post, I talked about how race did not really play a role in the Ottoman army. I, furthermore, talked about how the strength was the determinant in terms of how you were going to be viewed in the Ottoman army and the society. In this post, I would like to compare two different paintings of Gérome and address the common question that everybody has. Did he painted the african male because he was a slave under the Ottoman regime or he painted him because the african male was a part of a reckless and brutal army unit that was infamous for their raids after the Ottoman army entered different cities in Eastern Europe, and Middle East. I would like to start my analysis by comparing the clothes of these two soldiers. The first thing that I realize is how the african males clothes are shiner and well kept. On the other hand, middle eastern males clothes are not as well kept and it is obvious that it is not as new. The color seems to be fading away. So from comparison of their clothes we can conclude that Ottoman army did not discriminate their soldiers in regards to their skin tone, but the provided everybody with same opportunity, and whoever was successful ended up having more financial freedom. It is important to note that these soldiers were not paid by the Ottoman army. Instead, they were allowed to pillage the treasures of places that ottoman army invaded. Inherently, whoever was stronger and smarter would end up making more money from the military campaigns. Thus, we can say that african male could possibly have a higher rank or status in the Ottoman military. Next, I would like to analyze Gerome's intensions in terms of depicting these separate  individuals. We can see that african male is depicted as stronger while the middle eastern male is depicted more vulnerable. Furthermore, full face of the middle eastern male is shown in the painting while side of the african male is shown in order to put more mystique into the painting. Lastly, we can see that african male has a bigger and more magnificent gun than the middle eastern male does. This could be a symbol that the african male is higher up in the ranks. it needs to be remembered that Ottoman empire was very spread out and in order to maintain their military strength, ottomans needed to use every man they could possibly get to achieve that they treated everybody equally which led males from africa and arabia to join the ranks of the Ottoman military. Hence, african males were not being discriminated against. To the contrary, they were allowed to demonstrate their strengths and achieve success within their own capacity.

Sensual Women and Dominating Men

Gérôme's painting The Snake Charmer (1879, figure 1) presents as an image of the “Orient” created by a European artists that depicts an imaginative compositions of people and a culture from a distant land. For a European viewer these paintings became windows into the exotic, and often erotic, world of the colonies. The depictions of sensual “oriental” female subjects were especially prominent in these compositions because the figures acted as the catalyst for grabbing the attention of the European male gaze. An “oriental” landscapes and cultural qualities

Figure 1

fashioned the background for an artist’s tantalizing images that feature these mysterious, voluptuous, and foreign female figures. These representations created the idea of a foreign female identity that live to serve the pleasures of men with their exotic and erotic bodies. Gérôme was guilty of such imagery when he created his works titled The Slave Market (1860’s, figure 2) and Moorish Bath (1880’s, figure 3), which both feature a centered and nude female figure. Similarly with his painting, The Snake Charmer, Gérôme has once again depicted a culture without the necessary background information in order to create an image pleasing to a European audience. These paintings by Gérôme presents with elaborate motives where “oriental” people and their culture are exploited in the name of art.

  In order to create an exciting composition, Gérôme embellished the subject matter of his images in order to tempt viewers. As such, sexually promiscuous women were often at the center of these paintings, which furthered the stereotypical notions surrounding “Orientalism.” According to Edward Said, a Palestinian American literary theorist who helped to develop the critical field of post colonialism, these images created by the West established “a fictive reverie of the Orient that was in part defined as a hotbed of exotic sexuality.” [1] These images established the idea that nudity and sensual European looking women are a normal aspect of the “oriental” culture. This falsely advertises the “oriental” civilization to European audiences and lowers the culture and its people to a level of sinful, morally decrepit, and lustful group of individuals.

Figure 2

Throughout his career, Gérôme created several images depicting the people and landscape of the “Orient.” In The Slave Market, Gérôme has illustrated a nude female being inspected by a fully covered and cloaked man. As the title suggests, the painting shows the transaction between a slave trader and a potential owner. As the cloaked man examines the woman's mouth, she becomes the featured subject of the composition due to her central placement and the stark contrasting nature of her nude and white skin against the darkly clad male figures. This painting creates a “the fantasy of absolute possession” over the female body, which is solidified though the illustration of the nude and powerless woman against the commanding presence of the buyer. [2] This representation of women represses their status to become objects of male possession and the painting itself becomes “not portraits but fantasy.” [3]

Additionally, The Slave Market presents with two ideological assumptions concerning power. The first states male dominance over women and the second claims the superiority of white men to inferior (in this case) darker races. As Gérôme’s image presents non-white male figures partaking in human trafficking and the slave trade, a European viewer instantly compares his or her own morality against the actions of Gérôme’s figures. Europeans would never “indulge in this sort of regrettably lascivious commerce,” which functions to establish the superiority of the European race against the people of the “orient.” [4] The idea of the higher-ranking nature of the white race is further emphasized in another of Gérôme’s paintings, Moorish Bath. In this painting, the skin colors of two female figures are contrasted in order to solidify the expression of racial superiority while creating a sensual image.

Figure 3

Moorish Bath presents an intimate scene between a white, nude female figure and her dark skinned handmaid. As the girl turns her body away from the viewer, her maid presents her with a basin filled with water. The girl’s soft, ivory, and supple skin heavily contrasts against the standing figures’ muscle and strong physique, which illustrate the different lifestyle and social economic statues between the two women. The seated figure’s body shows that she has the means to live a privileged life, which includes servants, and does not have to perform physical labor. The servant must serve the white woman, which once again establishes the idea of racial dominance. To a male viewer, the image is also highly sexualized since both females are either partially or fully naked. Their intimate proximity and lack of clothing would allude to a sensual relationship between the figures. This suggestive relationship would even further tantalize males and attract their gaze since it would imply the two females were involved romantically. The interior of the bath further creates an air of the exotic and the mysterious as it strongly differs from nineteenth century European architecture.

Gérôme’s The Snake Charmer, The Slave Market, and Moorish Bath all present with similar themes that depict “Oriental” imagery. They fundamentally illustrate the culture through a European lens, show female figures either being dominated by men or interacting with other women, or cultural entertainment practices. These paintings aimed to entertain audiences though an artist’s attempt to create enticing and alluring images for their European viewers.

[1] Childs 2014, 126.

[2] Nochlin 1989, 44.

[3] Pollock 1988, 122.

[4] Nochlin 1989, 45.

Childs, Adrienne L. "Exceeding Blackness: African Women in the Art of Jean-Léon Gérôme." In Blacks and Blackness in European Art of the Long Nineteenth Century. Surrey: Ashgate Publishing Limited, (2014): 125-144.

Pollock, Griselda. "Woman as Sign: Psychoanalytic Readings." In Vision and Difference: Femininity, Feminism, and Histories of Art. London: Routledge, (1988): 120-154.

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

Borders Project-Post #3

My previous blog post extended the questions raised in the first post concerning the Portrait of the Duchess of Portsmouth (1682) by Pierre Mignard. In particular, I discussed the trade of red coral between European and African countries and how that related to the painting and the overall theme of borders. I also talked about the use of red coral in the art historical tradition with respect to Italian art. The scope of this post will include an historical perspective about the Oba of Benin (referring to Benin City in Nigeria, not the country of Benin), a discussion of the use of red coral by the Oba in the Kingdom of Benin and how that persists today, and how the Queen Mother of the Oba used coral beads.

The Oba is the monarch in Benin, his absolute authority only slightly rivaled by high-ranking priests (Ben-Amos, 9, 98). The Oba is the chief political and religious leader in Benin (Plankensteiner, 8). The first Oba was reportedly Oba Ewuare in the 15^th century, and he was known as a warrior king (Ben-Amos, 32). The Oba derives his power to rule from his descent from Oranmiyan, the legendary founder of Benin (Ben-Amos, 9). Oranmiyan was a prince of the Yoruba Kingdom of Ife who was invited by the Benin elders to replace their previous rulers, the Ogiso, under which they were very dissatisfied (Ben-Amos, 9). The Oba’s most immediate heir is his eldest son, though the position does not always come from family lineage (Ben-Amos, 9). The mother of the king is also highly respected and given the title of Queen Mother (Iyoba; Ben-Amos, 12).

The royal regalia of the Oba include coral beads in a variety of uses, including draping strings of beads and necklaces as well as a shirt made of coral beads strung together, as can be seen in the images of Oba Akuenzua II and Oba Erediauwa. Another important use of coral beads is in the construction of the coral crown of the Oba, which can also be seen with Oba Akuenzua II and Oba Erediauwa. The Oba’s coral regalia originated from the first Oba Ewuare, who was said to have stolen the beads belonging to Olokun (god of the waters; Ben-Amos, 33). Only the Oba can wear this coral outfit and he only wears it at Igue and Ugie Erka Oba, the two main ceremonies of his divine kingship (Plankensteiner, 7; Ben-Amos, 30, 92). Not only is the coral exclusive to the Oba position, but it is also the source of his authority (Ben-Amos, 69). The royal coral beads give the Oba the power of ase—whatever is said with them will eventually occur—which the Oba never does not invoke anymore (Ben-Amos, 92). The coral beads are highly important to the Oba and he wears them as a representation of the power of his position and a reminder of the lineage of that power.

Aside from the Oba, the Queen Mother also wears coral beads, as can be seen in the image of Iyoba Aghahowa N’Errua (wife of Oba Akuenzua II and mother of Oba Erediauwa). The Iyoba, as stated before, is the mother of the Oba—more specifically, this title is meant to distinguish the wife of the former Oba who gave birth to his first son who eventually became Oba (Kaplan, 55). The best known Iyoba is Idia, the mother of Oba Esigie from the early 16^th century, who named Idia the first Iyoba (Kaplan, 55). In the instance of the Iyoba (using the image of Iyoba Aghahowa N’Errua), the use of coral beads in her headband, collar, anklets, and bandolier is a statement of her status, as it relates to the current Oba, her son, and the previous Oba, her deceased husband (Kaplan, 57). The Iyoba does not wear the full outfit of red coral like the Oba, but does wear her own assortment of accessories made of coral to connect herself with the Oba.

The Oba position in the Kingdom of Benin has a long history, one that is directly intertwined with the red coral traded in Benin and other African countries with European countries. The Oba wears a full outfit of red coral, a tradition which persists today, to signify his status as king. The Iyoba also wears red coral, but in a different manner than the Oba, to denote her position as the Queen Mother of the Oba. Overall, the red coral is used in a much different and culturally significant manner as compared to how it is depicted in Italian art.

References Cited

         Ben-Amos, Paula Girshick. The Art of Benin. Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1995. Print.

      

             Kaplan, Flora Edouwaye S. “Images of the Queen Mother in Benin Court Art.” African Arts 26.3 (1993): 54-63, 86-88.

     

       Plankensteiner, Barbara. Benin. Milan: 5 Continents Editions, 2010. Print.

Blog Post 2: Exploring the origin of borders.


1530s Paris Bordone (Italian painter, 1500-1571) Portrait of a Man in Armor with Two Pages.

In my previous post I explored the use of an African child page in a portrait, displayed above, of a military officer in armor painted by an Italian painter Paris Bordone in the 1530s and how the portrait related to the overall theme of "borders". I have learned that the painting was painted before the time scope of this course, and thus the project will be  examining further how the exploitation of African culture originated, and further along how it evolved into the ways it is being used in the scope of the course. In this blog post I will be focusing on the origin, setting, and identity of the aspects of the painting and the painter for a better understanding of the piece.

The artist, Paris Bordone, was a Venitian Renaissance painter in the 16th century who apprenticed under the great painter Titian. He was known as a painter of mythologies and for his portraits, specifically those with young women whose "Hair typically shone with metallic brilliance", and for his sensitively rendered altarpieces and portraits. It is thought that he may have painted "Portrait of a Man in Armor with Two Pages" in the 1540s during his stint in Mulan. The piece is part of an extensive history of military portraiture, and is known as one of the origins of more "casual" military portraiture in which the official is preparing for battle, but this particular work is kind of an in-between as the setting is still quite ominous. The stormy skies, and the advancing army still give a sense of dread which is unique to Bordone. The African child in the painting is said to be a Moor, and the sitter is thought to possibly be Milanese. The identity of the sitter and the Moor child is important as it connects to the overall idea of borders in a very literal sense, assuming that the portrait was painted in Mulan as some sources suggest, the child was likely imported as part of some indentured servitude (Slavery was not common in 16th century Italy), or was otherwise purposefully added. Mulan was not a part of the triangle of the slave trade, meaning that for a Moor to be present in Mulan it took some amount of effort for the child to be under the officials employ. In itself, this is a statement of the fashion having such an exotic person under your employ portrayed. If the sitter went through that much trouble to have his foreign page included in the portrait, it is likely because it conveyed some form of message that made him appear more positive in some aspect, whether it be in makes him appear more world traveled, wealthy, or important. There is also the chance that the page was not there at all and was simply added artificially by request or at the artists behest, which even more clearly illustrates the point of how such a thing would appeal to the Zeitgeist of the time, as it would be purposefully be sought out as a desirable element to include in the painting.


Sources:

"Paris Bordon | Portrait of a Man in Armor with Two Pages." Paris Bordon. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2015.

"Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History." Sixteenth-Century Painting in Venice and the Veneto. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2015.