BEST AMERICAN ART by Alexandra Jopp

By Alexandra A Jopp In the 19th century, more and more artists traveled to the Middle East and North Africa. English painters went to India and Egypt, while French painters explored North Africa, especially Algeria and Morocco. According to Eric Underwood, “the conquest of Algeria during the reign of Louis-Philippe also aroused the interest of the French public and helped to increase the popularity of oriental characters.” ( 226 ). The East had a special appeal to artists of the Romantic era, particularly Eugene Delacroix, Jean-Léon Gérôme, Theodore Chasseriau and Eugene Fromentin. Orientalism and exotica begins with Delacroix (1798-1863). His first Orientalist painting, The Women of Algiers (1834), is not only an enchanting masterpiece but also one of his most important works. Eugene Delacroix. The Women of Algiers, 1834. Musée du Louvre, Paris. Perceptions of Islamic culture in the West result not only from the Arabic language, mosques and the Koran, and stories from One...