Rêver L'orient

In the 19th century, many European painters went beyond the fantasy of the Orient to reach its essence: they experienced the authentic beauty of the lights, the harshness of the desert and the strength of ancestral traditions. From Egypt to Algeria, from the Sahara to Palestine, Ernst, Deutsch, Hamdi Bey, Fromentin, Berchère, Bridgman, Ziem, Gérôme, Corrodi, Dinet or Majorelle were fascinated by the atmosphere, colours and customs of one of the cradles of civilisation. These artists were the privileged passers-by of an elsewhere conducive to dreams and contributed to enriching the golden age of Orientalism.

This book bears witness to the fervour with which these artists rendered landscapes, architecture, decorative arts and genre scenes. It opens with an analysis of the Orient in Paris in the 19th century, before following the trajectory of the travelling painters and concluding with a study of the orientalization of artists.