Empire, Travel, Art Visual Test essay

Pair One:

1. RIGHT Etienne Dinet, The Snake Charmer, 1889, Art Gallery of New South Wales
LEFT Jean-Leon Gerome, The Snake Charmer, ca 1870, Clark Art Institute

Question: Compare and contrast these two representations of the popular Orientalist theme of the snake charmer and his audience. Assess if and how these paintings inscribe western Orientalist tropes of the exotic east. Pay particular attention to the treatment of colour and light as well as the implied position of the spectator.

The Orientalist theme was very popular in the visual art in Europe in the late 19th century. At this point, the painting The Snake Charmer created by J-L. Gerome and the painting with the same name created by E. Dinet are two different samples of the impact of the Orientalist theme on western artists. At the same time, it is possible to trace the influence of western traditions in the visual art. For instance, the use of the interplay of shade and colour that creates three-dimensional images and contributes to the realism of paintings. However, Gerome prefers to depict the painting in dark colours, highlighting with light colours only the most important elements of the painting, including the snake charmer, his assistant and the background to highlight the audience present during the show. In contrast, Dinet prefers to depict the painting in bright colours, which though make the snake charmer and the audience look realistically. At the same time, Dinet depicts the snake charmer as an experience, old man, while Gerome depicts the snake charmer as a young boy standing backward to the viewer. Instead, the snake charmer of Dinet stands right in front of the audience and the audience can see clearly his face, a little bit weary but smiling. In such a way, Dinet attempts to show that the snake charmer is an experienced person. Instead, Gerome prefers thinking that even a young boy can be a snake charmer. In such a way, the artists reveal that they do not have the full understanding what people can perform the job of a snake charmer. At the same time, Dinet depicts some of spectators on the painting wearing hats which look quite westernized. The similar westernization of the painting can be traced in the work of Gerome, who depicts the snake charmer nude that is absolutely unacceptable for the oriental culture and traditions. Therefore, artists brought in their western ideas and influences into the subject matter of their paintings. At the same time, such westernization of paintings reveal the fact that the artists were not really acquainted with the Oriental culture and their Orientalism was rather the manifestation of their romanticism than the in-depth knowledge of the East.

Pair Two:

2. RIGHT John Hoppner, Portrait of Mademoiselle Hilligsberg, 1791, Art Gallery of New South Wales
LEFT Photographs of Princess Nazlı Hanım, Staffordshire records office

Question: Compare and contrast the way these two women are depicted in portraits where they have chosen to adopt the clothes of another culture or gender. What do these representations tell us about the attitudes of these individuals to their own culture and to other cultures?

In fact, the two women depicted in portraits wear quite unusual clothing in regard to their cultural background and origin. At the same time, neither woman looks being disappointed or irritated because she has to wear the clothes that is strange for her culture and contradicts to her cultural traditions. In stark contrast, they look quite satisfied and probably fascinated with the new experience. For instance, Mademoiselle Hilligsberg is smiling and looks quite playful in her dress. Similarly Princess Nazli Fazl looks quite content with her look, although she is apparently less emotional compared to Mademoislle Hilligsberg. In fact, judging from their posture, look and behaviour, the two women do not worry too much about the violation of their cultural traditions. They do not really care that they wear a strange clothes in regard to their cultural background. In such a way, the two women seem to shift from their traditional cultural background and they slip to experiments and innovations in their clothing. In such a way, they manifest their readiness to uncover something new in their life as well as their acceptance of everything new and original. In case of Princess Nazli Fazl, this may be a challenge to her conservative and rigid society, while in case of Mademoiselle Hilligsber, this may be just a desire of uncovering new cultures and discovering new experience that can make her life brighter. At the same time, these women are representatives of the new generation, which challenges traditional norms of their cultures. They challenge rigid views on the position of a woman in the society. They want to prove that they are different from the average women. Instead, they are capable to change and adapt progressive ideas and concepts. They are ready to experiment so far that they can even change their look accepting new cultural norms and traditions, if they feel they are interesting and reasonable for them.

Pair Three:

3. LEFT Edward Poynter, The Visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon, 1890, Art Gallery of New South Wales
RIGHT Stanislaw Chlebowski, The First Siege of Vienna, ca. 1865-72, Military Museum, Istanbul.

Compare and contrast these two paintings of historical events. What message does each convey about the events represented and about leadership? How are these historical narratives conveyed through visual means? Compare the composition and other formal attributes of these paintings.

Stanislaw Chlebowski’s The First Siege of Vienna depicts the siege of Vienna of the Ottomans, which attempt to take the city. Edward Poynter refers to the earlier historical theme, depicting the visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon. The paintings focus emphasis on the personalities, especially the painting created by Poynter, where the artist clearly shows the superior position of King Solomon compared to the Queen of Sheba, who is apparently inferior to him because she is a female and the Queen of a less powerful kingdom. Instead, King Solomon is depicted in all his power being positioned higher compared to all the rest in the painting, including the Queen. At the same time, the artist attempts to show the wisdom and progressiveness of the King since he steps down and reaches his hand to the Queen of Sheba to help her rise closer to him. In such a way, the artist probably wants to show that the King attempts to show that he treats the Queen as equal and manifests his respect to her through such gesture, which was apparently unexpected for his environment since the noblemen and other people in the painting are either sitting or kneeling down quite far away from the king. At the same time, the artist changes the proportion of the King and Queen compared to other people depicted in the painting. They look larger than any other person in the painting, even though the artist has violated the natural proportion but he probably did it intentionally to stress the significance of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. The artist attempts to show that the King and Queen are true leaders and no one can ever challenge them. In addition, the King stands on the top and steps are decorated with lions, which symbolise the strength and power of the King and his kingdom. In such a way, King Solomon is depicted as a true leader.

In this regard, Stanislaw Chlebowski depicts the Sultan as the true leader of the Ottomans but he is quite different from King Solomon. At any rate, the artist does not even try to show any attempt from the part of the Sultan to be closer to his subordinates or any person in his surrounding. In stark contrast, the Sultan is depicted as a truly oriental leader, a despotic, authoritarian and almighty in his power over his subordinates. He is calm and naughty, while his subordinates are kneeling down and are not daring to challenge his authority or even to look directly into his eyes. In such a way, the artist shows that the Sultan of the Ottomans is a classical oriental leader, who tends to the absolute power and the subordination to the leader is absolute.