Oriental Interiors

Oriental Interiors

Author: John Potvin

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2015-12-17

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 147259665X

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Since the publication of Edward Said's groundbreaking work Orientalism 35 years ago, numerous studies have explored the West's fraught and enduring fascination with the so-called Orient. Focusing their critical attention on the literary and pictorial arts, these studies have, to date, largely neglected the world of interior design. Oriental Interiors is the first book to fully explore the formation and perception of eastern-inspired interiors from an orientalist perspective. Orientalist spaces in the West have taken numerous forms since the 18th century to the present day, and the fifteen chapters in this collection reflect that diversity, dealing with subjects as varied and engaging as harems, Turkish baths on RMS Titanic, Parisian bachelor quarters, potted palms, and contemporary yoga studios. It explores how furnishings, surface treatments, ornament and music, for example, are deployed to enhance the exoticism and pleasures of oriental spaces, looking across a range of international locations. Organized into three parts, each introduced by the editor, the essays are grouped by theme to highlight critical paths into the intersections between orientalist studies, spatial theory, design studies, visual culture and gender studies, making this essential reading for students and researchers alike.


Drawn to Art

Drawn to Art

Author: Sonia Couturier

Publisher: Silvana Editoriale

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13:

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In the eighteenth century's burgeoning culture of travel and "Grand Tours," Rome was the essential destination. From all over Europe, artists jostled with art lovers and collectors of antiquities, each influencing the other in their respective ambitions. The cult of Rome was particularly strong in France, and this volume looks at more than 100 works by artists such as Hubert Robert, Jean-Honoré Fragonard and Jacques-Louis David, who made pilgrimages to the "Eternal City" and who were decisively influenced by their time there. The works are contextualized across five different sections: the first focuses on the tradition of academic training in Rome; the second explores the depiction of the city's landscape and surrounding countryside; the third looks at Rome and Paris' cultures of art lovers, patrons and artists; the fourth section examines the eighteenth-century conception of antiques; and the final section looks at Rome's annual festivals, and their influence on French artists.


Delacroix

Delacroix

Author: Sébastien Allard

Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Published: 2018-09-12

Total Pages: 331

ISBN-13: 1588396517

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p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Verdana} Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863) was one of the towering figures to emerge in France in the wake of Napoleon. No other artist of the nineteenth century balanced a reverence for the past with such a strong ambition and spirit of innovation. Distinguishing himself from many other talented young artists in Paris, he gained renown in the 1820s for his novel subject matter, theatrical sense of composition, vibrant palette, and vigorous painterly technique. His vast production—including some eight hundred paintings, prints in a variety of media, and thousands of drawings and pages of writing—won the admiration of countless writers and artists, including Charles Baudelaire, Paul Cèzanne, and Pablo Picasso. This comprehensive monograph closely examines the full breadth of Delacroix’s career, including his engagement with the work of his predecessors, his fascination with the natural world, his interest in Lord Byron and the Greek War of Independence, and the profound influence of his voyage to North Africa in 1832. It brings to life his relationships with his contemporaries, ranging from the painters Pierre Narcisse Guèrin and Antoine Jean Gros to Gustave Courbet, as well as his exploration of literary, historical, and biblical themes, his writing in personal journals, and his triumphant exhibition at the Exposition Universelle of 1855. Richly illustrated and encompassing the entire range and diversity of his art, from grand paintings to intimate drawings, Delacroix illuminates how this intrepid figure changed the course of European painting by heeding “a call for the liberty of art.”


Antique Dealing and Creative Reuse in Cairo and Damascus 1850-1890

Antique Dealing and Creative Reuse in Cairo and Damascus 1850-1890

Author: Mercedes Volait

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2021-05-25

Total Pages: 303

ISBN-13: 9004449884

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The commodification of Islamic antiques intensified in the late Ottoman Empire, an age of domestic reform and increased European interference following the Tanzimat (reorganisation) of 1839. Mercedes Volait examines the social life of typical objects moving from Cairo and Damascus to Paris, London, and beyond, uncovers the range of agencies and subjectivities involved in the trade of architectural salvage and historic handicraft, and traces impacts on private interiors, through creative reuse and Revival design, in Egypt, Europe and America. By devoting attention to both local and global engagements with Middle Eastern tangible heritage, the present volume invites to look anew at Orientalism in art and interior design, the canon of Islamic architecture and the translocation of historic works of art.


Collecting Inspiration: Edward C. Moore at Tiffany & Co.

Collecting Inspiration: Edward C. Moore at Tiffany & Co.

Author: Medill Higgins Harvey

Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Published: 2021-07-06

Total Pages: 313

ISBN-13: 1588396908

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Edward C. Moore (1827–1891) was the creative leader who brought Tiffany & Co. to unparalleled originality and success during the late nineteenth century. A silversmith, designer, and prodigious collector, Moore sought out exceptional objects from around the world, which he then used as inspiration for Tiffany’s innovative silver designs. This informative, richly illustrated volume, the first study of Moore’s life, collection, and influence, presents more than 170 examples from his vast collection, ranging from Greek and Roman glass to Spanish vases, Islamic metalwork, and Japanese textiles. These are juxtaposed with sixty magnificent silver objects created by the designers and artisans at Tiffany who were inspired by Moore’s acquisitions. Included among them are the world-famous Bryant Vase drawing upon Greek examples, a love cup featuring ornate “Saracenic” decoration, and a chocolate pot incorporating novel techniques influenced by Japanese ceramics and lacquerware. The illuminating texts have been enriched by groundbreaking research into contemporary sources such as newspapers and periodicals, the Tiffany & Co. Archives, and a newly identified technical manual and supervisor’s diaries, all of which provide an intimate look at the firm’s design processes and Moore’s role in shaping them. A valuable contribution to the history of American decorative arts, Collecting Inspiration illuminates both the legendary Tiffany aesthetic and the legacy of a significant collector, designer, and entrepreneur of the Gilded Age.