Orientalist Art Masterpieces

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Eugene Delacroix and John Frederick Lewis are regarded the orientalist painters of their time. The paintings, The Women of Algiers (In Their Apartment) by Eugene Delacroix and The Mid-Day Meal, Cairo by John Frederick Lewis are inspired by the art and culture of the Middle East. The Women of Algiers (In Their Apartment) by Eugene Delacroix is oil on canvas and it can be found in the Louvre in Paris to this day. The Mid-Day Meal, Cairo by John Frederick Lewis is a pencil, watercolor, body color, and gum Arabic on woven paper and it owned by a private owner in London.

These works of art were done when these two artists travelled the Middle East. These visuals were witnessed through their eyes and were not done by imagination alone. They depicted what they saw. The many different customs and everyday life were recorded by them through their many forms of art. Most of their arts were figure studies, and some were of the streets, bazaars, and mosques. The works of art that were produced by them exuded the different costumes that the men and women wore, the exoticism that were displayed, and the nocturne play when arts were done indoors.

The Orientalist Era was started when Napoleon marched into Egypt with an army, and defeated the Turks at the battle of the Pyramids. “A torrent of westerners came to the Middle East. The writers who wrote about their experiences and the artists who painted what they saw became known as the Orientalists.” (Fink). Although the artist that travelled to these places made some of the greatest masterpieces in their lifetimes, some were not well received by the natives. Many of these artists created beautiful paintings that almost seemed like it was photographed because of the heaviness in detail.

“Some of...

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...hat survived will always be remembered as the cornerstone of art today.

Works Cited

Christie’s. “John Frederick Lewis (British, 1805-1876),” The Mid-Day Meal, Cairo. http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/LotDetailsPrintable.aspx?intObjectID=5263436. <12-04-11>

Fink, Rick. “Orientalist Art of the Nineteenth Century.” Orientalist Art. 2000. http://www.orientalistart.net/index.html. <12-05-11>

Harrison, Colin. "Delacroix, Eugène." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. 4 Dec. 2011

Meagher, Jennifer. “Orientalism in Nineteenth-Century Art.” Heillbrun Timeline of Art History. 2000-2011. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/euor/hd_euor.htm. <12-06-11>

Preston, Harley. "Lewis (i)." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. 3 Dec. 2011 .

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