The oriental motif is a recurring theme in western painting. From the Renaissance with its awakening interest in ancient cultures and art to the 18th century with its Grand Tours and "Turkish fashion," the oriental theme has not only documented artists' travels to the East, but has projected the wishes, desires and imagination of the West. From ethnographic etchings to exaggerated displays of the sultans' splendor, this paradox of fact and fantasy culminated in the 19th century with the genre Orientalism. Napoleon's conquest of Egypt, European colonization, and archaeological excavations opened up the region to numerous artists such as Decamps. Delacroix, Fromentin, Ingres, Lear, and Hunt, whose most famous works express oriental imagery. The Orient in Western Art presents the emergence and development of an artistic motif accompanied by explanations of social and cultural history. Book jacket.

History of art.

The orient and the mystical images it evokes have always been a special source of inspiration in the history of european painting. From the Venetian portrayal of the Renaissance and the first examples of Turkish Fashion to the heyday of the 19th century and the Tunis paintings by August Macke and Paul Klee, this volume traces the development of the oriental motif in painting. Geographically so near, culturally so different, the countries of the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa have influenced both the oriental vogue of the baroque period and also the popular oriental genre in the fine arts. At the same time, the mysterious aura of the orient has repeatedly served as a romantically idealized counterpoint and escape route for european fantasies. Features [[ Individual chapters devoted to important artists including Delacroix, Picasso, and Kandinsky [[ extensive articles on special themes such as the image of the harem and the oriental fantasies of the Impressionists.