jewish women and identity in 19 c french orientalist paintings
DESCRIPTION
Jewish women’s identity in 19th C. French Orientalist paintings contributed to shaping how Jewish female identity has changed from the period of the Post-Enlightenment to Modernist times. An examination of the evolution of how the painter’s model was portrayed archetypically in North Africa, from sacred Moroccan bride to Harem odalisque and finally to the Femme Fatal figure reveals symptoms of this transformation. By surveying the art of French Orientalists and the texts of 19th and 20th-century scholars, historians, literature and artist writers, we may better understand how Jewish women’s identity has been influenced by such things as; Anti-Semitism, Post-Colonial theories exploring the “Other,” such as Said’s Orientalism, Ashkenazi and Mizrahi relations and Jewish/Arab feminist dynamics. This research is important because it may lead to a broader comprehension of contemporary Jewish identity for women. Hopefully this understanding may ultimately help to confront and diminish stereo-types, Anti-Semitism, social and political injustices as well as personal identity issues that Jewish women have commonly faced.TRANSCRIPT
Jewish Women and Identity in
19th C. French Orientalist Paintings
Paige Dansinger
Theodore Chasseriau. Jewish Women on a Balcony, 1849, detail. Paris, Musee du Louvre (RF 3882).
Theodore Chasseriau. Scene in the Jewish Quarter of Constantine. 1846, 1851. Private Collection and The Metropolitan Museum of Fine Art, (1996.285)
Theodore Chasseriau. Young Moorish Woman Nursing Her Child, (detail), 1850.
Theodore Chasseriau. Jewish Woman of Algiers Seated on the Ground, 1846. Watercolor over graphite. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, (64.118).
Theodore Chasseriau. Jewish Woman of Algiers, Seated and Seen Full Face; and Jewish Woman in Left Profile, 1846. Graphite with watercolor. Paris, Musee du Louvre (RF24416).
Theodore Chasseriau. Five Studies of Women in Oriental Costumes, 1847. Paris, Musee du Louvre (RF 24340)
Theodore Chasseriau. Bust-Length Study of an Arab Woman, Seen Full Face, 1846. Graphite on beige paper. Paris, Musee du Louvre (RF 5142)
Theodore Chasseriau. Portrait of Aicha Ben Gerbaz, 1846. Graphite. Private Collection.
Theodore Chasseriau. Jewish Family in Constantine, 1850 or 1851. Musee du Grenoble
Theodore Chasseriau. Commerce Brings People Together (Eastern Merchants on a Western Shore), 1844-48. Paris, Musee de Louvre (RF 3152).
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Turkish Bath. Paris, Musee du Louvre.
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Odalisque with Slave, 1839.
Eugene Delacroix. The Death of Sardanapalus, 1827.
Eugene Delacroix. Women of Algiers in Their Apartments, 1834.
Theodore Chasseriau. Moorish Woman Leaving the Bath in the Seraglio, or Interior of a Harem, 1854. Strasbourg, Musee des Beaux-Arts (1429).
Theodore Chasseriau. Bath in a Seraglio, or Woman Leaving the Bath, or The Bath, Interior of the Seraglio in Constantine, 1849, detail. Paris, Musee du Louvre (RF 3885).
Theodore Chasseriau. Moorish Dancers, 1849. Paris, Musee du Louvre, (RF 3879)
Theodore Chasseriau. Woman and Little Girl from Constantine with a Gazelle, 1849. Houston. Museum of Fine Arts.
Frederic Bazille. The Toilette, 1869-70.
Gustav Moreau. Cleopatra, 1887, detail.
Camille Corot. Young Algerian Woman Lying on the Grass, 1871-73.
Auguste Renior. Woman of Algiers or Odalisque, 1870. National Gallery of Art, Washington, Chester Dale Collection.
Jean-Leon Gerome. The Great Bath at Brusa. Private Collection.
Paul-Louis Bouchard. After the Bath. Private Collection.
Jean Lecomte du Nouy. White Slave, 1888. Musee des Beaux-Arts, Nantes.
Jean-Leon Gerome. The Narghile Lighter. Gallery Keops, Geneva.
Eugene Guerard. Harem Scene, 1851. Private collection.
Paul-Desire Trouillebert. The Harem Servant, 1874. Musee des Beaux-Arts Jules Cheret, Nice.
Ange Tissier. An Algerian and her Slave, 1860. Musee National des Arts d’Afrique et d’Oceanie, Paris.
Pierre-Marie Beyle. Bridal Finery, Algeria. Galerie Casa-Bella/Intemporel, Paris.
Eugene DelacroixThe Jewish Bride, 1832Paris
Eugene DelacroixSaada, The Wife of Abraham Benchimol and Preciada, One of their DaughtersTangier, 1832
Eugene Delacroix, A Jewish Woman of Tangier in Festive Costume, 1832.
Charles-Emile Vernet-Lecomte Femme Juive de Tanger, Paris, 1886
Jean BescancenotJuive de Sale', Costumes du Moroc Paris-Horizons de France, 1942.
Roger Bezombes. Moroccan Bride, Courtesy of Roger Bezcomes, Paris. Theodore Leblanc. Muslim Woman’s Visiting Costume for a Marriage, watercolor. Theodore Leblanc. Haroufoah; Muslim Bride, watercolor. Cabinet des Estampes,
Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris.
Edouard Debat-Ponsan. The Daughters of Jephthah, 1876.
Leon Cogniet. The Abduction of Rebecca, oil sketch, 1828.
Henri-Leopold Levy. Herod’s Wife, 1872.
Horace Vernet. Judah and Tamar, 1840.
Horace Vernet. Hagar Banished by Abraham, 1837.
Theodore Chasseriau. Esther Preparing to Be Presented to King Ahasuerus, or The Toilette of Esther, 1841. Paris, Musee du Louvre (RF 3900)
Theodore Chasseriau. The Toilette of Esther, 1841. Graphite. Paris, Musee du Louvre (RF 25936)
Leon Benouville. Esther, 1844.