How Much Influence Did Orientalism Have on Western Art?

Henri Matisse, Purple Robe and Anemones; 1937

Matisse's interior takes on a flat,
extended dimension, where the woman's
fabric, the wallpaper, the carpet and
even the patterned table blend together
to eliminate three-dimensional space.

Ibn Warraq, from The New English Review has an article about the influence of Orientalism on Western art. He does this while reviewing a biography of Mozart: Mozart The Dramatist, by Brigid Brophy.

One small quibble I have with his review (which is of course the theme of the writer who penned the biography): Western artists may have been leaning on Oriental themes to find the subjects for their works (paintings, music, literature), but the structure and composition of the works ended up being very much the creations of these artists.

I have been interested in the attraction towards exoticism that induced painters to study Arab culture, and even travel to and live in Arab lands. One such painter was Matisse. The evolution of his paintings is a complex topic, where he goes from three-dimensional depictions to two-dimensional ones so that his paintings look like layers of flat textile on canvass.

One of his interests, which stemmed from his family's textile business, was Arab interior decoration, where the homes were draped with endless carpets and textiles, hiding three-dimensional space behind a plethora of cloth. Rooms look flat and extensive. And colorful too.

Matisse used these experiences and examples to create his own two-dimensional canvasses. His development from three dimensions to two was part of Western art's questions and queries at the time, and not Eastern art edging in on those ideas. I think it was just fortuitous that Western artists traveled to the Orient and found what they were looking for; at least Matisse did. But even then, he brought it back and incorporated it into his own artistic/philosophical ideas, and never ventured to make Oriental art.

In the end, whether it is Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte or Matisses’s Purple Robe and Anemones the works are decidedly Western. I will also venture to say that any influences that occurred were superficial, like the Oriental table or the kaftan-clothed woman in Matisse's Purple Robe and Anemones. Matisse could have executed his ideas without putting either of these objects in his painting.

"Borrowing" Logos

Although I have blogged about the appropriation of the title and locale of the CBC Muslim show "Little Mosque on the Prairie", I only recently found out that they also "borrowed" the logo for the TV credits.

There is nothing else to link these two shows except the superficialities. But, it is a big boost from Muslims in Canada (and the US, where "Little House on the Prairie" originates) to give the impression that they are like any other Canadian. Take the name, the region and even the design style of the original show to fool ordinary Canadians into thinking that "Muslims are just like us."

Similar to the Roger's Center (where the last Eid celebrations took place) which is being touted as the center for multicultural celebrations, the clever producers of "Little Mosque on the Prairie" are saying that looking like a quintessential Canadian show (yes, Laura Ingalls is part of any young Canadian's reading material) is enough to detract people away from the real intentions of Muslims, which is not to look like Laura Ingalls and her family at all, but to be clear and uncontested Muslims.

The TV show is testament to that strategy. Nothing in the show resembles the prairies of the Ingalls family.

Moratorium on exotic representations

I understand and appreciate fully the creative desire at times to represent "exoticism." And this is just what I did with my gouache print design which I did a couple of years ago entitled "Desert Jewels." I'm pretty sure it is the turquoise domes of the Iraqi landscapes which inspired me to do this.

But, this type of occasional representation is a far cry from the stories of design and fashion changes that our Muslim residents are planning for our cities.

Print design "Desert Jewels"

With sadness, I have to conclude that exoticism has to be out for now. And we are far better off going back to our original landscape to reinforce it back into our psyche.

Fortunately, I did just that last year, with my Trillium and Queen Anne's Lace series.


Print design
"Trillium/Queen Anne's Lace"