Orientalism in the marketplace Like his colleagues, Ertug stresses historical accuracy in the Orientalist art market, which now affects price. For example, some Orientalists painted worshipers wearing shoes in mosques -- something that is universally forbidden and that indicates the artist was painting from fantasy. Those artists who are truthful get better prices at sales, says Ertug. The leading Orientalist artists who pass muster, says Christies McMorrow, include such well-known ones as Rudolf Ernst, Ludwig Deutsch, Alberto Pasini, John Frederick Lewis, Gustav Bauernfeind and portraits by Jean-Leon Gerome -- but not his large canvases, which, as Ertug points out, eroticize the Middle East and can be erroneous, and are therefore questioned by Middle Eastern buyers. Accurate records of ever-important matters of provenance, who has owned the painting previously, how was it obtained, how much has been paid for it, are now supplemented by a condition report -- repairs to the canvas, relining and restoration -- in determining the value of an Orientalist painting in todays market. Interestingly, women have become very important buyers in their own right in the last decade. In much of the Middle East, women tend to be the leading decision-makers in matters relating to the home, and they have been instrumental in buying Orientalist art. Oils for the majlis [the room where guests are received], something more decorative upstairs, says Brian Mac-Dermott. He recently advised an audience of fifty women on collecting Orientalism at the Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation, he says, and lectures university and Advanced-level [high school university preparation course-level] students in Dubai, including sensible advice for these future collectors. I emphasize very much the dangers of forgeries. But what really encourages me is that most collectors, particularly in the Arab world, have bought for the right reason --because they like the painting, as opposed to viewing it as an investment. If it happens, as it has happened, that theyve made a lot of money when theyve sold it, theyre even more pleased. But very few of these paintings come back on the market. People whove bought them hold onto them. Another market shift is being driven by the burgeoning museum culture of the Gulf. Each of the Gulf countries has been gradually building national collections, and several of them contain important holdings of Orientalism, the only genre that depicts customs and traditions long forgotten or disappeared. One such new museum is the huge Sharjah Art Museum, hosting the last leg of Lure of the East tour. In Dubai, Sheikh Maktoum has set up his own museum, and the Qataris have also been collecting assiduously for their new museum. Ali Can Ertug adds that Turkish museums have also been buying Orientalism extensively. Alexandra McMorrow comments that cultural awareness now in the Middle East is feeding into the boom in museum investment. Often obscured by its own veils of stereotype and history, Orientalism remains a cultural legacy that inspired not only undisputed technical excellence but also complex understanding of the relationships among western and Arab worlds. For the largely Arab clientele who now find it so attractive, the visual poetry and unabashed nostalgia of Orientalist paintings are often pleasing respites in a rapidly changing world -- much as their creators originally intended them to be. CITATION: Juliet Highet, Behind Orientalisms Veil, Saudi Aramco World, March/April 2009 pp 16-23 Copyright ï؟½ 2009 Saudi Aramco World
Posted on: Tue, 05 Nov 2013 14:25:30 +0000