Maryam Ekhtiar – författare

A fresh look at the ways nineteenth-century European and Ottoman artists portrayed and promoted the Middle East through interpretations and emulations of Islamic art and design  Colonial and imperial expansion, technical advancement, and artistic transformation in the nineteenth century catalyzed the global marketplace and sparked a wave of European picture-making focused on North Africa and the Middle East. Known as Orientalism, the genre inspired by Islamic cultures relied equally on fact and fantasy to create iconic images both celebrated and interrogated today. This book tells a new, multifaceted story, taking into account how major figures ranging from the French painters Ingres, Delacroix, and Gérôme to the Ottoman statesman and artist Osman Hamdi Bey shaped an understanding of their world by incorporating Islamic motifs into their pictures. Addressing manifold questions about ethnic and racial difference, gender, power relations, and colonialist attitudes, the publication reinterprets beloved works of art such as Gérôme’s Bashi-Bazouk and Ingres’s La Grande Odalisque. The book reaches beyond easel painting to detail the impact of Orientalism on decorative arts, architecture, and collecting practices, which inspired a deep admiration for Islamic art and prompted a design revolution with an enduring legacy in Europe and the United States.Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University PressExhibition Schedule: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York(June 12, 2026–February 28, 2027)

Founded in 1968, the Metropolitan Museum Journal is a blind, peer-reviewed scholarly journal published annually that features original research on the history, interpretation, conservation, and scientific examination of works of art in the Museum’s collection. Its scope encompasses the diversity of artistic practice from antiquity to the present day. The Journal encourages contributions offering critical and innovative approaches that will further our understanding of works of art.