Imaginary Orient by Linda Nochlin - Essay Example

Imaginary orient by Linda Nochlin The rationale behind the expansionist of nineteenth-century was to discover forgotten art work, re-evaluate the materials and create new canon to be adopted by the Asians. The work attempts to unify the nineteenth century characteristics at a documentary realism. The event occurred during the advent of European expansions in the nineteenth century. Europeans usually believed that Islamic Orient at that time was culturally inferior, and they advanced their idea through colonization, which was designed to justify their actions.

There are various aspects of culture that mystify the Europeans such as the political dominion and other ideologies, which suggested that the degree of realism cannot be ignored (Nochlin 34). Images of orientalists cannot be analyzed without clarifying the clarity. For example, the Jean-Leone Gerome Snake Charmer art work of 1860. It was considered as the visual document portraying 19th century colonial ideas. It focused on Asian language of a transparent naturalism. The methodology employed by Orientals when creating their paintings is quite an admirable aspect.

This is because they are able to involve the audience. The other mystifying acts of the Europeans depiction of the oriental comes into being when they take a photograph of the Oriental towns without ever having time to study them perfectly, in an expression specifically known as ‘touristic presence’(Nochlin 37). The European in the paintings are depicted as being only the gazers who finally bring the Asian world into life as intended. According to Orientalist painter Gerome, the strategy was to make viewers see the reflections of the Oriental reality.

Influence of race, gender and sexuality on imaginary oriental paintings Black people especially the female, were depicted in various paintings to give aesthetic value to white merchants. For example (Nochlin 49) says that “the presence of black servant in Moorish Bath scenes serves connotative as well as ethnic purposes”. From Jean-Leone Gerome’s painting of The Slave Market, it should also be noted that slaves were from the inferior culture and that they were traded according to their complexion, gender as well as sexuality.

Trading of attractive women was done inside the opera house. The merchants were not the typical Orientals but civilized Parisians. The women in question usually dressed up provocatively to attract buyers willing to part with their money. There is one particular painting known as Manet of Olympia where a black maid was used to indicate sexual naughtiness, but also treated less as compared to a lovely white figure. Sultan usually used nude black girls to prepare himself before his wife. The sense of available erotic nuance led to lesbianism in order to spice the forbidden overtones.

On the other hand, men were seen as predominant beings in any paintings. They were the ones who controlled power and had the final say in whatever decision. This was a predominant factor during the oriental time. According to Islam, the place of the women was the family. No woman was allowed to air her views no matter the situation. Men are usually depicted as using the women to satisfy their desires, while women are seen as making profit from satisfying their male counterpart (Nochlin 47). These eventually influenced the European negatively as seen by the actions of French merchants who traded slaves.

Work cited Nochlin, Linda. The Politics of Vision: Essays on Nineteenth -Century Art and Society. New York: Harper and Row, 1989. Print.