10 Most Famous Orientalist Paintings

The Collector lists ten iconic Orientalist paintings from the 19th century, including works by Eugène Delacroix, Jean-Léon Gérôme, Ludwig Deutsch, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, John Frederick Lewis, and Antoine-Jean Gros. The article highlights both the artistic mastery and the problematic colonial stereotypes embedded in the genre. Key paintings include Delacroix's 'The Death of Sardanapalus' (1827), Gérôme's 'The Snake Charmer' (c. 1879) and 'The Slave Market' (1866), Ingres's 'Grande Odalisque' (1814) and 'The Turkish Bath' (1862), Deutsch's 'The Palace Guard' (1892), Lewis's 'The Reception' (1873), Gros's 'Bonaparte Visiting the Plague Victims of Jaffa' (1804), Delacroix's 'Women of Algiers in Their Apartment' (1834), and Gérôme's 'Prayer in the Mosque' (by 1874). The article notes that many of these works were based on imagination rather than firsthand experience, with exceptions like Deutsch and Lewis who lived in the Middle East. The paintings are held in major institutions including the Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Yale Center for British Art. The list also addresses the controversial legacy of Orientalism, including the use of Gérôme's 'The Slave Market' by the far-right Alternative für Deutschland party.