1. In the late 18th and 19th centuries, French and British colonial expansion into areas like Egypt and the Ottoman Empire fueled European interest in these regions. 2. Travel writings and artworks depicted exoticized and often distorted views of customs in these lands, helping create an "imaginary Orient" that portrayed local cultures as inferior and justified colonialism. 3. Paintings by artists like Jean-Leon Gerome and photographs of harem interiors catered to European fantasies about exoticized and eroticized Middle Eastern lifestyle despite inaccurately portraying them.

1. Romanticism in France
The Imaginary Orient

2. Jean-Leon Gerome, Naploeon and His General Staff, 1843-44
In 1798, a French army led by General Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Egypt and
occupied the country until 1801

3. In 1809 the French Government published a guide to Egypt that illustrated the
topography, architecture, monuments, natural life, and population of Egypt

4. The Dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire (1683-1924) Image courtesy of the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection of the University of Texas-Austin
As the French colonial empire expanded, curiosity about these strange and
unfamiliar places gave rise to a market for travelogues and pictures about exotic
peoples and places

5. Charles Jervas, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, After 1716
National Gallery of Ireland
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Letters … Written during her
Travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa to Persons of Distinction,
Men of Letters, &c. … which Contain … Accounts of the Policy
& Manners of the Turks. Berlin: Sold by August Mylius, 1781
http://unitproj.library.ucla.edu/special/wildershores/turkey/turkey.
htm#a_harem
Eyewitness accounts by European travelers described customs that seemed alien
to European audiences, and were often distorted by western biases or lack of
familiarity with local customs

6. Charles Jervas, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, After 1716
National Gallery of Ireland
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Letters … Written during her
Travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa to Persons of Distinction,
Men of Letters, &c. … which Contain … Accounts of the Policy
& Manners of the Turks. Berlin: Sold by August Mylius, 1781
http://unitproj.library.ucla.edu/special/wildershores/turkey/turkey.
htm#a_harem
This helped create an “imaginary Orient” that ultimately justified colonization on the
basis of the presumed “superiority” of European civilization

7. Jean-Leon Gerome, The Snake Charmer and His Audience, c. 1879
Francine Clark Art Institute
An example of this kind of “imaginary Orient” can be seen in this painting by Jean-
Leon Gerome, who specialized in exotic scenes of daily life in vaguely specified
Middle Eastern locations

8. Jean-Leon Gerome, The Snake Charmer and His Audience, c. 1879
Francine Clark Art Institute
Set in a courtyard decorated with Islamic tile work, the painting depicts a naked
youth who charms his audience with a snake, accompanied by an older man who
plays a flute

9. The exotically dressed audience looks on with rapt attention, and the scene is
rendered with such specificity of detail that it seems to be based on something the
artist witnessed first hand

10. Jean-Leon Gerome, The Snake Charmer and His Audience, c. 1879
Francine Clark Art Institute
But the subject is a pure invention of the artist’s imagination – and one that casts a
shameful light on the behavior of these Turkish men, who seem to be puriently
exploiting an innocent young boy

11. Jean-Leon Gerome, The Snake Charmer and His Audience, c. 1879
Francine Clark Art Institute
Such a scene would not, in fact, have been common in Turkey during this time
period -- but the artist makes it seem as if it was

12. Jean-Leon Gerome, The Snake Charmer and His Audience, c. 1879
Francine Clark Art Institute
To European audiences in the 19th century, such a painting would have been taken
as “proof” of the degenerate lifestyle of the Turkish people, and justification for
European colonization

13. Henriette Brown, A Visit: Harem Interior, Constantinople, 1860
The Turkish Harem, where Muslim women lived in seclusion from male society,
was also a topic of intense fascination

14. In the European imagination, the Harem was imagined as a site of illicit sexuality,
and proof of Near Eastern degeneracy
Daniel Valentine Riviere, Phanariot Greek Ladies, c. 1840
Prera Museum

15. Eugene Delacroix, Reclining Odalsque (or Woman with a Parakeet), 1827
The seductive allure of the imaginary harem attracted Romantic artists like Eugene
Delacroix, as seen in this painting of an opulent odalisque (an inhabitant of a
Turkish harem), reclining seductively on a couch

16. Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Grand Odalisque, 1814
Louvre
But it also attracted the Neoclassicist Ingres, who broke with Neoclassicism in this
painting of an odalisque in a similarly seductive setting

17. Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Grand Odalisque, 1814
Louvre
Although Neoclassical in style, with its emphasis on cool colors, smooth finish, and
crisp drawing and design, the picture is nevertheless Romantic in subject in its
mysterious exotic setting, and its frankly erotic appeal

18. Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Grand Odalisque, 1814
Louvre
The woman reclines seductively on a couch surrounded by rich silks and furs, as
she gazes at the viewer with a “come hither” expression

19. Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Grand Odalisque, 1814
Louvre
She wears an oriental turban on her head, and other exotic accessories include the
peacock fan, silk curtains, and a “hookkah” pipe for smoking opium

20. Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Grand Odalisque, 1814
Louvre
All of this conjures up an exotic and erotic scene that catered to colonialist
stereotypes of the “imaginary Orient”

21. Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Grand Odalisque, 1814
Louvre
But when Ingres exhibited the picture at the Salon of 1819 the subject matter was
not considered offensive, as harem scenes were quite common in 19th century art

22. Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Grand Odalisque, 1814
Louvre
But he was criticized for the figure’s anatomical distortions: the woman’s back is
strangely elongated, and her legs do not connect logically to the body

23. Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Grand Odalisque, 1814
Louvre
The artist defended himself by claiming “artistic license.” An early champion of “Art
for Art’s Sake,” Ingres proposed that artistic style is more important than fidelity to
nature

24. Parmagianino, Madonna of the Long
Neck, 1535
Ufizzi
While the roots of this idea go back to 16th century Mannerism, it also anticipates
the increasing license that artists will take in the 19th and 20th centuries