Orientalism in French painting in the first part of the 19th century through Women of Algiers in their apartment by Delacroix

Résumé du document

I have chosen to focus on ?Women of Algiers in their apartment' (1834) by Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863). He is usually considered the most important French romantic painter. His romantic mood led him to dream of the Orient (thanks to poems by Byron) before traveling in North Africa, in search of the exotic. In the book, ?Women of Algiers', romanticism and Oriental elements are closely linked. However, Delacroix's travel to North Africa was closely linked to the political context of the time. In 1832, Delacroix, aged 34, traveled to Morocco as part of a diplomatic mission. 1830 was also the date of the storming of Algiers by Charles X, King of France. At the inception of the Monarchy of July, in 1830, Louis-Philippe wondered what to do with Algeria. He had the choice of leaving the French troops, and staying in Algeria in accordance with public opinion. He chose to stay but this caused diplomatic problems between the King of Morocco and France. Thus a diplomatic mission led by Charles Edgar, Comte de Mornay was sent to Morocco to mediate with Sultan Moulay Abd-er-Rahman. As Mornay wanted to be accompanied by an artist to give the journey a more pleasant aspect, Delacroix was chosen. On the way of return, the mission stopped over at Oran, and then Alger.

Extraits

[...] Orientalism was also a source of exoticism and eroticism, against the strict rules of the European bourgeois society of that time. It was also a means for painters of renewing their pallets of colours, thanks to the new light. Some events lead artists to Orient. The first one was the Bonaparte's expedition in Egypt in 1798-1799. The second one was the rebellion of the Greeks against the Turkishs in 1821. A lot of artists were involved, and Delacroix painted Massacres de Scio (1824, Musée du Louvre). [...]

[...] On the contrary, in Women of Algiers, the Orient was no longer fantasized; it was closely depicted, in a worry of rightness. The decisive event is of course the travel of Delacroix to North Africa. By the reading of his sketchbooks, we learn that when he entered a house, he wrote every significant detail, amazed by the contrast between the simplicity of the architecture and the luxury of the decoration[2]. In Algiers he had a chance to visit the harem of a Turkish privateer. [...]

[...] However, in this painting, colour was the point of departure. His annotations in his sketchbooks proved his preoccupation about colour and light. In Women of Algiers, Delacroix increased his researches on colour and a strong touch work. His mastery of colours let him get a chromatic harmony and play on small details: the green of the woman in right's trousers is emphasized by yellow motives; the green-blue lining of the woman in left's red-orange corsage; the yellow of the woman in the middle's scarf emphasized by the red bands; the contrast between the black of the woman on the right's hair and the white skin is emphasized by the rose Delacroix had a real sense of colours. [...]

[...] The fantasized Orient of early 19th century is substituted by a real scenic Orient, and Women of Algiers are a good illustration of this evolution. Earlier, the Orient was seen as a violent world, as oriental military paintings by Horace Vernet for instance showed. On the contrary, Delacroix chose to give a sensual but not erotic image of a typical mysterious place of oriental societies: the harem. It is important to note that this painting was not painted by Delacroix in Algiers but after his return to France, on the base of sketches and simple watercolours that he made in Algiers. [...]

[...] When the painting is presented in the Salon in 1834, it was a real revolution of the gaze which shoved bourgeois conventions and conformism. This painting was a proof of the evolution of the Occidental gaze on Orient. It is visible in the attitude of characters where emotion is more present, with more and more acuity. From Delacroix's Women of Algiers, this “elsewhere” is internalised, whereas before it was fantasised (in romantic oriental paintings such as The Death of Sardanapalus). According to Renoir, Women of Algiers is most beautiful painting in the world”[3]. [...]