Met Museum's First Orientalism Exhibition Explores Cross-Cultural Exchange

The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents 'Orientalism: Between Fact and Fantasy,' its first exhibition dedicated to Orientalism, on view through February 28, 2027. The show examines cross-cultural encounters between Europe and the Middle East from Napoleon's conquest of Egypt in 1798 to the work of Ottoman painter Osman Hamdi Bey (1842–1910). It juxtaposes European and American Orientalist works with objects from the Middle East, highlighting Islamic art traditions that fascinated 19th-century audiences. The exhibition is the first major collaboration between the museum's Departments of European Paintings and Islamic Art, addressing issues of influence and cultural appropriation.