Flex Mentallo

Since the latter part of the 20th Century, the term "Orientalism" has come to be associated with patronizing Western attitude towards Middle Eastern, Asian and North African societies which was shaped by the cultural attitudes of European imperialism in the 18th and 19th centuries. (Conversely, the term "Occidentalism" is often used to refer to negative views of the Western world found in Eastern societies and is founded on the sense of nationalism that spread in reaction to colonialism.)

"The Orient is a stage on which the whole East is confined in order to make the Eastern world "less fearsome to the West" Edward Said

And Veiled Circassian Beauty for more than twice that amount.

He is now back in fashion. Master of the Hounds sold at auction for over £1,000,000 in 2008.

He was a leading light of the academic painting style that prevailed until the advent of Impressionism, following which his star waned.

He did not only gather themes, artifacts and costumes for his oriental scenes, but also made oil studies from nature for their backgrounds.

In an autobiographical essay of 1878, Gérôme described how important oil sketches made on the spot were for him: "even when worn out after long marched under the bright sun, as soon as our camping spot was reached I got down to work with concentration. But Oh! How many things were left behind of which I carried only the memory away!"

This would herald the start of many orientalist paintings depicting Arab religion, genre scenes and North African landscapes.

The French artist Jean-Léon Gérôme visited Egypt for the first time in 1856.

I find Orientalism in art a fascinating subject, in parallel with the Japonisme that soon followed, as the West opened up to new cultures and influences, even if in the process, exoticized and romanticized them sometimes to the point of absurdity.

Petra...

I love his use of intense light which renders even the most monumental of stone sculptures seemingly evanescent.

Today, a set of the originals will easily command £25,000.