Discover the amazing world of Orientalist paintings at Islamic Art Museum Malaysia

Maurice Bompard's 'Harvesting Dates In Chetma' (oil on canvas, 1891) seen at the Islam Arts Museum Malaysia's exhibition 'The Orientalist Paintings: Mirror Or Mirage?'. Photo: The Star/Azlina Abdullah

When travellers to the Eastern world returned home to share captivating tales of their adventures, they ignited the imagination of their audience. Among these intrepid explorers were artists who, inspired by their experiences, sought to capture the essence of the Orient through paintings, sculptures and various artistic forms.

Unsurprisingly, the emergence of Orientalist art in the 19th century coincided with a period of heightened exploration and colonial expansion by Western powers, reflecting a growing fascination with the East.

However, Orientalist art went beyond mere documentation. It embraced the fantastical and exotic, catering to an audience enthralled by the allure of the distant and unknown.

While some artists had firsthand encounters with the Orient – which in those days referred to North Africa and the Middle East, occasionally stretching as far as India – others relied on stories, imagination, and the prevailing Western fantasies about Eastern cultures to create their stunning artworks.

The genre offered glimpses into the customs, architecture and landscapes of the Orient, where reality and imagination often intertwined.

'The Orientalist Paintings: Mirror Or Mirage?' exhibition at the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur features over 110 paintings spread across two galleries. Photo: The Star/Azlina Abdullah

The current exhibition at the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia (IAMM), titled Orientalist Paintings: Mirror Or Mirage?, delves into this era where the boundaries between reality and imagination blur.

Moving beyond the exotic

However, unlike the exoticised and fantastical depictions commonly associated with Orientalist art, this exhibition takes a more grounded approach.

For instance, the portrayal of harems, a recurring theme in Orientalist paintings where a popular depiction is of sensual women in opulent settings, is limited to a single realistic representation by French artist Henriette Browne, who documented her visit to a Turkish women’s protected space in the 19th century.

“Our mission is to examine what the artists might have seen. No male artist ever managed to experience a genuine harem environment, so we know that these paintings are total ‘mirage’ without any possibility of ‘mirror’. But here we have one of the very few genuine views of a harem – and it is by a woman. Browne’s A Visit: A Harem Interior is as lacking in lascivious detail as (Jean-Auguste-Dominique) Ingres’ work (Turkish Bath) was full of it,” says Lucien de Guise, who curated the IAMM exhibition together with Rekha Verma.

“Her painting is in so much demand with those who want to know the unexciting truth about the harem, it is actually on loan at the moment to a prominent Swiss museum. We promise that it will be back on our walls, though!” adds the British curator.

Browne’s 'A Visit: A Harem Interior' (oil on canvas). This is one of a few versions of a subject that no male artist ever managed to convey with conviction. Her modest impression of a Turkish harem was remarkable – and she had actually visited such locations in Constantinople. Photo: IAMM

This exhibition marks another significant chapter in the ongoing exploration of the relationship between Europe and America, and what was once referred to as the Orient, by IAMM. This connection has been studied for some time, with notable exhibitions such as Beyond Orientalism: How The West Was Won Over By Islamic Art in 2008, and the joint exhibition with the British Museum, Inspired By The East, shown in London in 2019.

Compared to previous IAMM exhibitions surrounding Orientalism, the current show Orientalist Paintings: Mirror Or Mirage? is larger in scale, both in terms of exhibition space and the number of artworks on display. Featuring over 110 paintings spread across two galleries, this exhibition offers a more extensive exploration of Orientalist paintings (from the IAMM collection).

Core period

One notable difference between these exhibitions lies in their chronology. Instead of covering 500 years of cultural exchange between East and West, the focus here is on the core period of the Orientalist art phenomenon, spanning the early 19th century to the early 20th century.

“From the early 19th century to the early 20th century, the field evolved from a niche interest to an essential part of Western art appreciation. The output in those years was enormous, as was the audience,” says de Guise.

Vigee-Le Brun’s 'Portrait Of Muhammad Dervish Khan' (oil on canvas, 1788). She was given permission by King Louis XVI to capture the likeness of Muhammad Dervish Khan, which she did with energy and elegance. Photo: IAMM

The Orientalist Paintings: Mirror Or Mirage? exhibition at IAMM is presented on two levels (Special Gallery 1 and 2).

The upper floor, located on the ground floor, features thematic presentations such as “Street Life”, “The Call To Wilderness”, “The Material World”, “Pastimes And Pursuits”, “Portraits Of Power”, and “Piety And Ritual”. These themes showcase the diverse subjects that Western artists engaged with in their Orientalist works.

On the lower ground floor, the exhibits are arranged chronologically, highlighting potential routes taken by Orientalist artists, starting from Maghribi (Morocco), considered the gateway to the Orient, and continuing to Cairo (Egypt), Constantinople (Istanbul), the Holy Lands and India.

“Perhaps the most interesting works are by those who knew the old ‘Orient’ best. Top of that list would be Osman Hamdi Bey, who is from one of the most influential Ottoman families and yet fully immersed in the modern, Western way of painting that developed in the 19th century. As well as offering insights into the rarely seen domestic life of the time, his sense of aesthetics is sublime. Another artist is the French artist Nasreddine Etienne Dinet, who shines with the depth of his knowledge of North Africa and the Islamic faith that he converted to,” says de Guise.

Adolf von Meckel’s 'The Nile At Bulak' (oil on canvas, 1888). Instead of typical scenes of pyramids and mosques, he was drawn to an alternative Orient, populated with real people. Photo: IAMM

Osman’s 1880 oil painting, Young Woman Reading, depicts a young woman in a pose common to many of his paintings depicting people reading the Quran. While the use of a lectern is not exclusive to the Quran, the use of an embroidered cloth to protect the book, the identifiable pattern of a prayer rug and the smoking incense burner, all speak of piety.

There are a number of other notable artists on display, including Jean-Leon Gerome and Eugene Delacroix.

“Jean-Leon Gerome not only visited the Orient constantly and painted it innumerable times, he also taught generations of other artists. As for Eugene Delacroix, some would say he was the founder of ‘modern art’; more would say he was the founder of Orientalist art. He only visited North Africa once, but the impression he made was massive. Years later, he was an inspiration for the likes of Pablo Picasso, who transformed Delacroix’s fictitious view of a harem into one of his most famous paintings,” says de Guise.

Distance and unfamiliarity

Another artwork that is hard to miss is Elisabeth Vigee-Le Brun’s painting of Muhammad Dervish Khan, thanks to its commanding composition and visual impact. In this 1788 portrait, she captures her subject in a dignified and regal pose.

“It was the most expensive work by a pre-modern female painter to be sold at auction. In 1788, the most popular figures in Paris were the ambassadors sent by Tipu Sultan, the ruler of Mysore in southern India. French artists were desperate to paint their portraits. Almost all were men, but the commission went to Le Brun,” says de Guise.

Osman Hamdi Bey's 'Young Woman Reading' (oil on canvas, 1880). Photo: IAMM

“She had previously painted Queen Marie-Antoinette and was the only artist that the Muslim would give permission to paint his portrait. King Louis XVI also gave permission. The outcome is a huge work which conveys the power and authority of a much-admired visitor to France,” he adds.

Orientalist painters in this time faced numerous challenges and hardships when traveling to the Orient. The difficulties of travel during that time were not limited to the Orient, as Europe and America also had their share of hazards, but the Middle East and North Africa posed additional challenges due to their distance and unfamiliarity.

“It wasn’t just the Orient that was filled with noxious smells, disease and bandits, but the Middle East and North Africa were further away. Getting there was very expensive, as well as being taxing on the artists’ health and mental welfare. Nowadays we take safe, comfortable travel for granted; things were very different in the past.

"What we see in the exhibition is the work of those artists who made it there and back and sketched sufficient views to last them till their next visit, if that ever happened. Some artists, of course, never journeyed further than their local community of travellers, who would fill them in on the details of being an artist on the move,” explains de Guise.

A Hispano-Moresque lustre vase from Alhambra, Spain, from the 19th century, on display at the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia's 'Orientalist Paintings: Mirror Or Mirage?' exhibition. Photo: The Star/Azlina Abdullah

Sketching was also prohibited in many places, leading to creative alternatives. Angry mobs could form on the street and mosques were usually off-limits. As a result, artists turned to photography as a means of capturing the scenes they encountered.

Not that this didn’t come with its own set of challenges.

“Local residents would not usually let photographers anywhere near them and photography was infinitely more difficult than in the modern age of handphones. Some cunning artists devised cameras that were concealed beneath their clothes with only a lens poking out. These weren’t very effective and, if caught, the user could expect poor treatment,” he says.

Despite these obstacles, they managed to capture glimpses of these distant lands through their artwork, offering us a window into a world that was both alluring and mysterious.

While Orientalist paintings can be appreciated for their artistic merits, it is crucial to approach them with a critical eye and consider the historical and cultural context in which they were created, and the complex narratives that shaped this genre.

Apart from paintings, the 'Orientalist Paintings: Mirror Or Mirage?' exhibition also has a collection artefacts from the era. Photo: The Star/Azlina Abdullah

De Guise hopes that visitors to the Orientalist Paintings: Mirror Or Mirage? exhibition will look at the paintings and not be misled about theories of colonial conspiracies.

Every artist has a different agenda, he notes, pointing out that most are free spirits who have never been servants of imperialist governments.

“By spending time with the works in the exhibition, it is possible to rekindle some of the excitement about that contact between East and West which developed so fast, and generally with such admiration for cultures that were barely understood in Europe and America,” says de Guise.

“Viewers should also appreciate the sheer virtuosity of artists who excelled in their field. When we look at a painting we should try to consider the hardships – and the exhilaration – of being an artist in a land they might never visit again. Their experiences are sometimes hard to detect in the paintings, especially when the subject matter is improbable, but we can try to share their delight, surprise and occasional anxiety,” he concludes.

Orientalist Paintings: Mirror Or Mirage? is showing at the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia (IAMM) in Kuala Lumpur till Oct 15. More details here.