Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia

Art, design and culture of the Islamic world

Exhibition

Orientalist Paintings

Part Two

“Orientalist Paintings (Part one and two) are mainly from the 19th century, a time when it became possible for European artists to travel to what was then known as the ‘Orient’. , as the Middle East and North Africa were then called. The exhibition takes a thematic look at that vast region in a time of transition. The display is divided into eight sections that follow the artists’ different creative callings. As this is one of the largest exhibitions ever undertaken at the IAMM, it is displayed over two galleries.”

The Malaysia Islamic Arts Museum follows “a path that starts in the Maghreb and Al-Andalus. This was the main gateway that led European artists and other visitors into the Islamic world. The cultures they found have straddled Europe, Africa and Asia for centuries.”

British and French played a role in shaping state boundaries and formations to create the ‘Middle East’ after the fall of the Ottoman Empire (1908–1922). Middle East is an Eurocentric term coined by the British that relates to the proximity of the region to Europe, an imperial invention created by the European powers using policies such as the Sykes-Picot Agreement and the ‘mandate system’ to exploit the region’s resources. Scholars interpret the region in various ways (i.e., what countries form the Middle East), often referring to it as ‘West Asia’. During the early 19th century, as the region became more accessible to European painters, Orientalist paintings such as these appeared.

“Orientalist artists have left us with invaluable observations of locations within the Islamic world. Monochrome photography was the only rival to their efforts. To visualise how places used to be, most viewers would prefer to see some colour. The paintings in this section set the scene for the rest of the exhibition. Meticulously executed and carefully composed, they offer us a glimpse of places that mostly still exist. They depict known locations – either mentioned in the painting’s title or clearly identifiable. In many cases a premium was paid when collectors knew exactly what they were getting. Most preferred reality to fantasy.”