Egypt
The National (Tahira Yaqoob)
See the above page for the full story.
- Exhibition: More Re Pioneers To The Past
Media-Newswire A new exhibition at the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute Museum chronicles an amazing and sometimes dangerous journey 90 years ago by James Henry Breasted, a famed archaeologist who brought back Egyptian artifacts to Chicago....
- Exhibition Review: The Lure Of The East
This is London (Brian Sewell) The Lure of the East is an exhibition of painting at the Tate Britain (the original Tate in Pimlico, not to be confused with the Tate Modern). This is a review not merely of the exhibition but of the whole subject of "Orientalism"...
- Review: Two New Books Responding To Edward Said's Orientalism
Times Online (Robert Irwin) I've included this because anyone interested in the modern history of the Middle East, including Egypt, will probably have come across Said's Orientalism. So many academics want the arguments presented in Edward Said’s...
- Exhibition: New York Museum Explores Mystery Of Orient
Huliq.com Through paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, decorative arts, costume, ancient relics and modern souvenirs-drawn almost entirely from the New-York Historical Society's extensive collections-Allure of the East: Orientalism in New York,...
- Exhibition: Global Views: 19th-century Travel Photographs
http://tinyurl.com/222rpz (princeton.edu)"In the second half of the 19th century, professional photographic firms arose in the major cities of Western Europe, as well as in more remote travel destinations such as Greece, Egypt, India, Asia and the Middle...
Egypt
East meets west - and it's love
The National (Tahira Yaqoob)
A look at the influence of oriental art and culture on western art and ideas, inspired by a new exhibition of modern art from the Middle East at the Saatchi gallery in London.
Fresh from his travels in the Middle East, the transformation of the former ambassador to Iran left his fellow Britons astounded.
It was not Sir Robert Shirley’s tales of his exploits in what was then Persia which intrigued and astonished his countrymen on his return, but his garb. Dressed head to toe in exotic Persian regalia, he stood out among his more conservatively dressed compatriots.
A portrait by Anthony Van Dyck shows him attired in a lavish gold and silver embroidered tunic, heavily brocaded gold cloak depicting scenes of woodland and flowers and an enormous turban.
For when Sir Robert was dispatched to Persia on his ambassadorial duties at the end of the 16th century, he embraced the country’s customs, apparel and artistic traditions so wholly, he enraged his own king, James I, for refusing to give them up once he was back on British soil.
Sir Robert was not the first to indulge in orientalism, the movement by artists, writers and designers to depict or adopt eastern cultures. But what he does give us is a glimpse into a very British love affair with Middle Eastern art which thrives to this day.
Scroll forward 400 years and the exhibition that has caused a recent stir in the western art world is Unveiled: New Art from the Middle East in the newly-reopened Saatchi gallery in London. . . . .
Matthew Girling, the chief executive of Bonhams, said: “The British have long been fascinated by the Orient and the Middle East and included elements of it into their designs.
“The travel operator Thomas Cook started doing tours to the Middle East in the 19th century, people were being exposed to Egyptology and there were archaeological excavations which were brought back to Europe and met with huge enthusiasm.
“We cannot imagine that time now but it must have been incredibly exciting as new discoveries were being made.”
See the above page for the full story.
- Exhibition: More Re Pioneers To The Past
Media-Newswire A new exhibition at the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute Museum chronicles an amazing and sometimes dangerous journey 90 years ago by James Henry Breasted, a famed archaeologist who brought back Egyptian artifacts to Chicago....
- Exhibition Review: The Lure Of The East
This is London (Brian Sewell) The Lure of the East is an exhibition of painting at the Tate Britain (the original Tate in Pimlico, not to be confused with the Tate Modern). This is a review not merely of the exhibition but of the whole subject of "Orientalism"...
- Review: Two New Books Responding To Edward Said's Orientalism
Times Online (Robert Irwin) I've included this because anyone interested in the modern history of the Middle East, including Egypt, will probably have come across Said's Orientalism. So many academics want the arguments presented in Edward Said’s...
- Exhibition: New York Museum Explores Mystery Of Orient
Huliq.com Through paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, decorative arts, costume, ancient relics and modern souvenirs-drawn almost entirely from the New-York Historical Society's extensive collections-Allure of the East: Orientalism in New York,...
- Exhibition: Global Views: 19th-century Travel Photographs
http://tinyurl.com/222rpz (princeton.edu)"In the second half of the 19th century, professional photographic firms arose in the major cities of Western Europe, as well as in more remote travel destinations such as Greece, Egypt, India, Asia and the Middle...