Book Description
Foreword Magazine " ‘Orientalism,’ the brilliantly colorful art of the 1800s that captured the exotic Orient in striking and fascinating detail, "is ripe for redefinition," states Kristian Davies, adding that the initiative requires "a delirious energy, a tangible, uncomplicated enthusiasm." Possessing those qualities, he founded a press and has published a sumptuous book ablaze with reproductions of often spectacular Orientalist paintings. He is sparing with strictly academic analyses, but generous with engaging personal commentary and straightforward contextual pointers – and fully rewards his readers. Some 300 images by seventy-five or so painters drawn from forty five institutions in seven nations do not simply mean one more over-lavish omnium-gatherum coffee-table book. Davies’ subtitle defines his area; he states his preference for realism over heady imagination, emphasizes the later painters (post-1850 or so), and readily includes Americans (Bridgman, Mackenzie and Vedder among them) and also interesting lesser-knowns such as Furlong, Hamdy-Bey, and Monsted. He offers readers thirteen essays. Of these, seven focus on specific artists. The mighty Jean-Léon Gérôme we can expect, but Ilya Repin and Vasily V. Vereshchagin are unexpected plusses. Six essays focus on themes. We can expect "Desert" and "Caravan" and, of course, "Women"; but "The Armed Guard" and "Faith" are less expected and indeed welcome. The remaining essay is the bonus: Davies examines four "Orientalist" traveler-writers: Jean-Louis Burckhardt, Captain Richard F. Burton, Lady Jane Digby el-Mezrab, and Arthur Rimbaud. Because of their immense contributions to the West’s knowledge of the Islamic world, the lives of first two are well known, but the exotic (and erotic) journeyings of Lady Jane and the short, fraught, and absurdly tragic life of Rimbaud less so. In all cases, Davies’ well-illustrated vignettes (some featuring artwork by the subjects) fascinate; they will prompt many readers to explore available full-length biographies. It is a tribute to Davies’ organizing skill that what may appear as arbitrary essay topics reinforce each other, providing cohesion for this far-ranging work. His essay on Leopold Belly and his dynamic masterpiece, "Pilgrims Going to Mecca" and the now lost "Fellaheen Hauling a Dahbieh" demonstrate Davies’ solid grasp of composition, depicting musculature, backlighting techniques and related matters. Similarly, he is no stranger to the broader reaches of art history, moving easily from Belly and Bridgman’s boat haulers on the Nile to those of Repin and Vereshchagin on the distant Volga. "Uncomplicated enthusiasm" does not mean that Davies steers entirely clear of academic discourse. He takes up the cudgels against Edward Said’s strained polemic on the western invention of an "imagined Orient" – a polemic which fails to recognize that in the West curiosity was a driving a force that impelled legions of painters to record every visible aspect of the Oriental world – which exhibited pitifully little reciprocal curiosity. Davies also addresses tendentious writings of Linda Nochlin et al. against the depiction of near-naked women in harems and slave markets: to depict them was to record a reality, not to endorse a set of practices. (Interestingly, the magnificent bare male torsos and splendid limbs found in Orientalist painting do not appear to have aroused feminist ire.) In giving theme precedence over chronology and in discussing the realities that the painters sought to capture, Davies effortlessly helps the reader see and experience the paintings more responsively. His commentary on Ernst Deutsch’s Palace Guard opens our eyes to the richness and variety of 19th-century arms and accoutrements and thus ties in these superbly crafted items’ distant sources of manufacture. In lifting the reader’s eye from the callipygian lad in Gérôme’s The Snake Charmer to the intricately patterned tiled wall behind his audience, Davies quietly alerts us to calligraphic panels as an element of Islamic architecture. The selection of paintings bedevils every art historian. Davies thankfully spares us Ingres’ cascading breasts and mighty haunches. Inclusion of Corrodi, Forcella, Peluso, and Von Meckel, to name only a few often neglected artists, is a plus, though some readers will regret omission of iconic works by Bonington, Chassériau, Delacroix, Vernet and other revered masters. All in all, Davies’ book ("an introduction," as he modestly states) is a remarkable achievement for an author of only thirty or so. Less consciously academic than Philippe Jullian’s "The Orientalists" (1977), it is pictorially more appealing; less extensive than the seasoned Gérard-Georges Lemaire’s "The Orient in Western Art" (2000), which includes 20th-century work, Davies’ book is nonetheless rich in historical and social commentary. Davies’ vitality and always arresting images will exhilarate the reader. The Orientalists is a book to buy – and a copy lent will be a copy lost." - Peter Skinner, Foreword Magazine

From the Publisher
Americans and Europeans have a dual perception of the land that stretches from Morocco to India. Much of it Muslim, for the past 1,000 years no region has inspired more fear for the West, yet none has been a greater source of wonder and a stronger influence on Western art and artists. Contemporary events have darkened that perception, yet from the Great Pyramids to the Taj Mahal, the Middle East and India have for centuries lured Westerners to travel and have inspired their architecture, literature, music and fashion. The Orientalists pursues perhaps the richest era of this long tradition of fascination for the Near and Middle East—the mid to late 19th century, when painters from America and from every country in Europe traveled in and painted the vast cities and peoples of North Africa, the Holy Land, Persia and India. Many of these regions had only recently become accessible to the West. The first in, the first to see – the painters, known as "Orientalists" created a rich body of work of a world that was rapidly changing, during the last precious years before modernization. The Holy Land, North Africa, Persia, India - these are places whose history is filled with both beauty and pain. The artists painted many sides that captured this duality—the dignity of faces, and the powerful color and beauty of architecture, calligraphy and clothing, but also the brutality of poverty and the tragic outcomes of violence. The cinematic appeal of the images is undeniable. Hugely popular in their time, the Orientalists had an enormous influence on early film makers like D.W. Griffith and their recreations of Babylon and Biblical times. A perusal of the images in this book shows their deep influence on many aspects of contemporary visual arts, a kind of prototype of many 20th-century favorites, from the "Star Wars" films, "Lawrence of Arabia", "Gladiator" and the many films set in the desert milieu, to the "Dune Chronicles," Frank Frazetta and "The Lord of the Rings" illustration tradition. Featuring over 300 images, culled from 45 different institutions in seven different countries, many of these pictures have rarely been seen publicly since their creation a century and more ago. Having both traveled and lived in the region, author Kristian Davies approaches this often misunderstood genre of art from a fresh perspective. The book is designed to be a primer, a fresh new approach and redefinition of the genre. Richly illustrated with full color pictures, many with second details, it is an art history book that puts the artwork first. Davies uses a selection of the finest pictures in the genre to illuminate the life and customs of this extraordinary part of our world. The text is intended for the general reader, exploring diverse subjects like deserts and pilgrimages, villages and bazaars, faith and spirituality, and the West’s enduring fascination with the harem and hookah. Written in a personal, engaging tone, The Orientalists emphasizes both the extraordinary talent of these artists and the beauty and nobility of the worlds they traveled in. It will show a reader that perceptions have not always been as uniform or simple as "us" and "them." A unique, indispensable book, the ultimate work on the subject, The Orientalists: Western Artists in Arabia, the Sahara, Persia & India will be of interest to lovers of both fine arts and illustration, readers of history, movie fans and travelers alike.

About the Author
Born in Hong Kong and raised in America, Kristian Davies is also the author of "Artists of Cape Ann: A 150 Year Tradition." While working as an art historian, he has written for "Art & Antiques," "American Art Review" and "Antiques and the Arts Weekly." Educated at Northwestern University and the Paris III La Nouvelle Sorbonne, he traveled extensively througout the Mediterranean and his lived in the Middle East.