Orientalist Lives: Western Artists in the Middle East, 1830–1920

The publication in 1809 of Description de l’Egypte started a wave of Egyptomania that never stopped. By the 1830s dozens of artists made pilgrimages East, intending to capitalize on interest in the Orient. They would evoke emotions, pander to Western fantasies of the harem (with veiled beauties languishing on cushions) or depict scenes evocative of Biblical times. I have a very long shelf in my library devoted to the lives of Orientalists such as such as David Roberts, John Frederick Lewis and Jean-Leon Gerome. In addition, we have their diaries, letters and even autobiographies. So what’s new to say? Plenty! James Parry’s new book is a carefully researched, wonderful new take on the subject. He presents the nuts and bolts of what the artists had to do to make the trip East, carry out their sketches and paintings, and return home with enough material to gain fame and fortune. The fun of this book is in the detail – for example, how these artists obtained their dragomen, those colourful fixer/guides who could find you a house in Constantinople for an extended stay or procure a dahabiyeh in Cairo for the trip up the Nile. Most of the artists wanted outdoor scenes of bazaars, temples, slave markets and camel caravans, but oil is not a good medium to use in a desert country: it dries slowly and sand and dust stick to the paint. So artists relied on sketches and watercolours to record the details, and later they would complete the (hopefully saleable) oil painting; often, ‘later’ was back in London, Paris or Munich. Parry supplies an interesting discussion of the difficulties Europeans had in obtaining local models in the Middle East. Here female artists were more fortunate than their male counterparts; women might even be invited into the harems for a first-hand look. There is a hilarious quote from Amelia Edwards about how flies at Abu Simbel attacked her watercolours as she was painting. Other artists were surrounded by curious and sometimes hostile locals as they painted outdoors. Some artists stayed for prolonged periods. John Frederick Lewis lived in Cairo for nearly ten years. He was relatively well off and did not have to sell his paintings to survive. Parry contrasts him with the lesser-known Gustav Bauernfeind who was living hand to mouth. And there are plenty of new faces in the cast of characters. Parry does not dwell on the ‘big guns’ – he has more about the ‘lesser lights’ such as Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann, which is a bonus. Orientalist Lives is an encyclopaedia with a theme: how did they do that? But it is an encyclopaedia that you will want to read again and again. Review by ancientegyptmagazine dot com

If you think this is book full of art, well is not.Too much text.Better go to pinterest for art.

James Parry has produced a beautiful publication, highly informative and a fascinating read. Attended a talk by James - a great story teller. I highly recommend the book.

I found this to be a fascinating, very readable and entertaining account about the Orientalists and their travels to the Middle East. I am not at all surprised that it won the Art History category in this year’s Association of American Publishers Awards. Very well deserved. It’s an outstanding book and gives fabulous insights into the lives and work of this group of artists. It is clearly very well researched and has lots of great quotes from artists and their patrons. The author takes us behind the glamour and exoticism of the painting. He writes about the, often dangerous, journeys the artists made to gather materials for their work; I loved the descriptions of how some of the artists travelled in local clothes to blend into their environment and also went to great lengths to learn Arabic. These were no superficial endeavours! Before reading this book, I was only really aware of David Roberts. Orientalist Lives gave me a much greater understanding of the range of artists who visited the Middle East. Really interesting to discover that, for some of the artists, it was a rags to riches story but then back to rags as the market for Orientalist paintings changed. Collectors in the Gulf and Middle East are now buying Orientalist paintings as they view them as part of the region’s heritage. It shows how influential these artists were. So it is wonderful to have so much information about the Orientalists captured in one impressive and up to date book. Highly recommended.

I pre-ordered this book back in September 2017, I was so excited to get this book at first. When received it in the mail a year later, I was thoroughly disappointed. The book was small and I was expecting more artwork inside. I got this thinking "Yes! I don't have to spend $400.00 on the Orientalists Western Artists book." I feel like I just bought a History book for school rather than an artbook. Don't get me wrong, I love to know the history behind the artwork, but to go on for several pages and then show a small image of the artwork, I feel cheated.