LONDRA. TATE GALLERY. ORIENTALISMI.

T.E. Lawrence, di Augustus John, 1019


Nel 2008 la Tate fa una mostra sull'orientalismo nella pittura, avendo in mente sia il contributo di Edward Said allo svelamento dell'occhio occidentale che si posa tendenziosamente sul mondo orientale e i trenta anni di dibattiti dopo la pubblicazione del libro di Said negli anni settanta, che il colonialismo inglese in quell'area del mondo dopo il 1920 e la caduta dell'impero ottomano. San web ci restituisce le immagini di quella mostra. Da Tate


Muhemed Ali, pacha d'Egitto, di David Wilkie, 1841

Elizabhet Young, di David Wilkie, 1841
Wilkie was one of the first artists to travel to Jerusalem after the establishment of the British Consulate there in 1839. Already a celebrated painter, he travelled to the Near East to make studies for a future project of biblical subjects. This was never realised as he died on the journey home.This watercolour was painted in Jerusalem. Fair-skinned women dressed in Near Eastern costume often in a harem setting, are a recurring image in ‘Orientalist’ paintings. Such works underline western perceptions of eastern culture as sensuous and exotic. Many fashionable European ladies posed for similar portraits.


J. S. Buckingam e la moglie, di H. William Pickersgill, 1825
James Silk Buckingham (25 August 1786 – 30 June 1855) was an English author and traveller.
citazione, da wikipedia

mrs. Baldwin, di J. Reinolds, 1782
Nineteen-year-old Jane Baldwin, the wife of a wealthy merchant, was born in Smyrna (now Izmir in Turkey) of British parents. She had no East European blood, but Mrs Baldwin made the most of her exotic background; she was known as the 'pretty Greek'. She wore this costume on special occasions in London, notably at a ball given by the king. She holds an ancient coin from her birthplace. The sensuality of her unusual crosslegged pose adds to her allure.
citazione da qui


Colin Mckenzie, James Sant, 1842-44
As Assistant Political Agent at Peshawar, Lieutenant Mackenzie was sent to Kabul in 1840, during the 1st Afghan War (1838-1842). He led the defence of Kabul fort against the Afghans and the subsequent night fight to escape from it, leading Sale's retreating force to Gandamak. He returned to Kabul and was present at the conference between the Afghan Chief, Akbar Khan, and the British envoy, Sir William Macnaghten, where the latter was murdered. Mackenzie survived the ill-fated retreat to Jalalabad, only to be chosen as a hostage by Akbar Khan. He was freed by a force commanded by Sir George Pollock before Akbar Khan could sell him into slavery. Deeply religious, he was respected by the Afghans, who called him 'the English Mullah'. Like many of his British contemporaries in India, Mackenzie seems to have chosen to wear loose oriental clothes for comfort, when off-duty.
citazione da national.army.museum


Robert Shirley, autore ignoto, 1624-27


Lady Teresia Shirley, autore ignoto, 1624-27
Double portrait of Robert Shirley (c. 1581 – 13 July 1628), an English traveler and adventurer, and his Circassian wife Teresia. He wears the exotic Persian clothes which so impressed his European hosts, whilst she wears her native style of dress but also holds a flintlock pistol and a pocket watch, symbols of the technologies Europe were introducing to Persia.
citazione, da wikipedia


Bezestein bazaar, Cairo, di J. Frederick Lewis, 1860


Henri Lannoy Hunter, di Andres Soldi, 1733-6
Hunting was the particular pastime of the English merchants in which fellow Europeans, Turkish officials and the Beduin ‘King of the Arabs’ were invited to participate. Hare coursing with hawks and greyhounds was the principal sport, together with shooting waterfowl. After the hunt, lavish picnics would be eaten in tents. Hunter sits in full Turkish dress (it is unlikely that all elements of it would have been worn when hunting), surrounded by his trophies of the day, held aloft by his Christian, possibly Armenian, servant (identifiable as such by the red and blue of his costume, and the form of his headwear).