http://www.tate.org/ The Lure of the East: British Orientalist Painting, opened at Tate Britain on 4 June. It is the first exhibition to survey the history of British painters' representations of the Middle East from the seventeenth to the early twentieth centuries. It explores the great range of artistic responses to the peoples, cities and landscapes of the regions lying just across the Mediterranean from Europe.
The exhibition revealed the wealth of Orientalist painting which followed the arrival of steam travel in the nineteenth century. Art and tourism flourished in places that were now relatively easy to reach by boat, and artists were drawn to visit and paint the areas they explored including Cairo, Jerusalem and Istanbul (Constantinople), often travelling via Spain and Morocco, or through Greece and the Balkans. The exhibition examines how British painters sought to convince their audiences of the authenticity of their images, often by using intensely detailed compositions. It showed how deriving drama and romance from the Orient was central to their work. In images of the harem and of the Holy Land, in particular, these two impulses were often in fascinating tension, leaving the viewer to question the accuracy of the subjects they were depicting.
Bringing together over 110 pictures and watercolours from collections around the world, The Lure of the East includes major works by celebrated British painters such as Pre-Raphaelite William Holman Hunt, Richard Dadd, Lord Leighton and John Frederick Lewis. It also brings together many important and rarely seen works from private collections. The exhibition looks at the long tradition of British sitters being portrayed in different varieties of Oriental dress, and its themes include landscapes, cityscapes, genre scenes, the harem and the Holy City.
Highlights include Gavin Hamiltons huge canvas James Dawkins and Robert Wood Discovering the Ruins of Palmyra 1758 (National Gallery of Scotland), the portraits of Lord Byron by Thomas Phillips 1814 (Government Art Collection) and Lawrence of Arabia by Augustus John 1919 (Tate), William Allans Slave Market, Constantinople 1838 (National Gallery of Scotland), John Frederick Lewiss The Seraff A Doubtful Coin 1869 (Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery), David Robertss panoramic view of the ancient city of Baalbec in Lebanon 1861 (Sharjah Art Museum), Richard Dadds Flight out of Egypt 1849/50 (Tate) and John Frederick Lewiss Hhareem Life, Constantinople 1857 (Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne).
The exhibition inevitably engages with ongoing debates around the concept of Orientalism - the representation of the East in Western arts and literature and its political contexts.
Organised by Tate Britain in association with the Yale Center for British Art, The Lure of the East is curated by Nicholas Tromans (Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture, Kingston University, London). The exhibition opened first at the Yale Center (February 7 April 28 2008) before coming to Tate Britain. Afterwards, in collaboration with the British Council, it will travel to the Pera Museum, Istanbul (October 2008 January 2009) and the Sharjah Art Museum (February April 2009).
The Lure of the East: British Orientalist Painting
4 June - 31 August 2008 (Press view: Monday 2 June 2008)
Tate Britain , Linbury Galleries, Level 1
Admission £10 (£8 concessions; £9 seniors), open daily 10.00-18.00 last admission 17.00
For tickets book online www.tate.org.uk/tickets or Call 020 7887 8888
Pic: William Holman Hunt
A Street Scene in Cairo: The Lantern Maker's Courtship 1854-7; 1860-1
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
Morocco
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