THE ART OF LIVING

This Season, Christie’s presents Orientalist Masterpieces, featuring important works from a private collection including two of the most admired exponents of the genre: Jean-Léon Gérôme and John Frederick Lewis. Here, Christie’s International Head of Orientalist Art Etienne Hellman talks to leading author and expert on Orientalism, Lynne Thornton, about the works and about one of the art world’s most vibrant collecting fields.

Etienne Hellman: How long have you been involved with Orientalism?
My fascination with this artistic movement goes back to the early 1970s. So it is a passion and interest that has lasted for nearly forty years. I have travelled all my life and was interested early on in the representations of Oriental countries by Western artists and also in how Persian and Turkish miniatures influenced many painters and book illustrators.

In the 1970s, most people did not realise how important Orientalism was, both as artworks and as historical documents. Many of the 19th century paintings were considered academic, a style which had been completely out of fashion for decades, and even leading artists of their time were ignored. Since the 1980s, however, there have been many books and university thesis published, and exhibitions held in museums and galleries, which have opened the eyes of collectors. This rediscovery, rehabilitation, also concerns many excellent early 20th century painter travellers, whose work is now much sought after. People tend to forget that famous artists, such as Henri Matisse, Albert Marquet, Charles Camoin, Raoul Dufy, Kees Van Dongen, and Paul Klee, visited North Africa or Egypt and painted works that now attract even greater interest due to recent exhibitions.

EH: Tell us more about why these works have come to captivate us once again.
The top Orientalists were real professionals, most of whom had years of training in art schools. Their manner of painting is, of course, extremely varied, but one can always count of the high quality of their work. The paintings were once considered “exotic” since they represented people and scenes in the Eastern world then little visited by most Westerners. Today, world-wide travel has changed this. But these paintings remain precious historical accounts of everyday life and customs now often disappeared today. Not only that, they give us the wonderful opportunity of travelling both in distance and into the past. I am pleased to see that international museums in the United States, the Near- and the Middle East, and also in Europe are exhibiting Orientalist works: an important Jean-Léon Gérôme show, scheduled to open next year in the United States, will then go to the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. Last year, the “Lure of the East exhibition”, which featured paintings by John Frederick Lewis, after its opening at Yale Center for British Art, went to the Tate Britain, the Pera Museum in Istanbul, and finally to the Sharjah Art Museum.

EH: Christie’s is presenting an exceptional sale of Orientalist Paintings featuring major artists such as Jean-Léon Gérôme and John Frederick Lewis. What is it about these painters that make them special?
Gérôme and Lewis, leading names in the 19th century, as they are today, both visited the countries they depicted. Gérôme was excellent in noting the exact details of costumes and the architecture. And he certainly had a sense of humour, as we can see in his scene of an Arnaut puffing smoke into the face of his dog. Lewis was, I feel, more involved with the everyday life of the people he met or saw from afar. One should note, too, that the international interest in Orientalism today has led to a great rarity on the market for pictures of top quality such as those seen here, an opportunity which museums and collectors should not miss!

EH: Which painting in this collection is your favourite?
It is difficult to choose! “The Midday Meal, Cairo” by Lewis is very special. Here, Egyptians are seen sharing a moment together on a terrace of a private house, while servants attend to their needs: down below, men take care of horses. There is a community spirit conveyed in the work, which I find very appealing. I also like the painting by the German artist, Ferdinand Max Bredt. The face, the hairdo, the blouse, of the young Tunisian woman, who is a little bit shy as she poses for the artist, is very contemporary.

EH: What are you currently working on?
A book called “Painting Morocco 1906-1956”, which will be presented by themes. There will be of course, the famous Jacques Majorelle, also represented in your sale by the spectacular “Souk el Khémis”, but also artists of many different nationalities. It takes me a lot of time to follow up my various investigations in many different countries, but I make astonishing discoveries, so it is really exhilarating!

Lynne Thornton, who lives in Paris, is a specialist in Orientalist paintings. She has written many books and press articles, contributed to international exhibition catalogues, and has presented paintings in auctions as an official art Expert.