Cultures Crossed: John Frederick Lewis and the Art of Orientalism

Weeks, Emily M.

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Description: Cultures Crossed: John Frederick Lewis and the Art of Orientalism

BOOKCultures Crossed: John Frederick Lewis and the Art of Orientalism

Emily M. Weeks

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00344

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23339

John Frederick Lewis (1804–1876) is one of the best-known yet least understood British Orientalist painters of the nineteenth century. His numerous, highly detailed Orientalist images stand in dramatic contrast to the meager written archive of the years he spent in Egypt between 1841 and 1851; art historians have long puzzled over the details of this significant period and struggled for meaningful insight into his process of artful construction.

This innovative book, the first critical monograph devoted to this acclaimed artist, draws on both newly uncovered historical data and imperial and post-colonial theory to propose a compelling new interpretation of Lewis’s paintings and biography. In addition to offering formal, historical, and theoretical examinations of Lewis’s highly nuanced subject matter, Weeks argues that Lewis crafted an ambiguous, cross-cultural identity that challenged viewers’ understanding of fact and fiction and, along with his pictures, subverted systems of patriarchal power in England and abroad.

*The eBook is available exclusively on the A&AePortal.*

Author

Emily M. Weeks

PublisherPaul Mellon Centre

Print publication date November 2014 (out of print)

Print ISBN 9780300208160

EISBN 9780300273458

Illustrations 111

Print Status out of print

Publisher (out of print)

WorldCat

Google Books

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List of illustrations

In the Bezestein, El Khan Khalil, Cairo (The Carpet Seller)
In the Bezestein, El Khan Khalil, Cairo (The Carpet Seller), detail
Interior of a Mosque, Afternoon Prayer (the 'Asr)
An Intercepted Correspondence, Cairo
Portrait of John Frederick Lewis in Ottoman Dress
Portrait of John Frederick Lewis in Turkish Dress (reclining)
Snake Charmer
A Lioness
Buck-Shooting in Windsor Great Park
Interior of a Turkish Habitation at Venice
Highland Hospitality
Spanish Fiesta
Easter Day at Rome
Interior of the Great Mosque, (Ulucami) Bursa, Turkey
Self-Portrait Smoking a Çubuk
William Holman Hunt Re-enacting the Painting of The Scapegoat
Francis Frith
Self-Portrait in Oriental Costume
The Hhareem
The Hhareem, detail
An Armenian Lady, Cairo—The Love Missive
Lord Byron
Ground Plan. […]. /Mr. Lewis House/Cairo., Drawing showing the interior decoration of houses in Cairo
Section of the Mundarah./Mr. Lewis House/Cairo., Drawing showing the interior decoration of houses in Cairo
Mendurah in my House in Cairo
His Highness Muhemed Ali, Pacha of Egypt
Portrait of Mehmet Ali Pasha
Portrait of Mehmet Ali Pasha, detail
Portrait of Mehmet Ali Pasha, detail
The Egyptian Magician Holding a Séance with Members of the European Community in Cairo
Robert Hay
Sir John Gardner Wilkinson (1797–1875), aged 46, in Turkish Dress
Edward William Lane
Study for The Courtyard of the Coptic Patriarch's House in Cairo
Study for The Courtyard of the Coptic Patriarch's House in Cairo, detail
Study for The Courtyard of the Coptic Patriarch's House in Cairo, detail
Study for The Courtyard of the Coptic Patriarch's House in Cairo, detail
Study for The Courtyard of the Coptic Patriarch's House in Cairo, detail
Study for The Courtyard of the Coptic Patriarch's House in Cairo, detail
Study for The Courtyard of the Coptic Patriarch's House in Cairo, detail
Study for The Courtyard of the Coptic Patriarch's House in Cairo, detail
Courtyard of the Painter's House, Cairo
Zuleikah peeping through the wooden lattices of Lewis's house
The Midday Meal, Cairo
The Midday Meal, Cairo, detail
The Midday Meal, Cairo, detail
The Midday Meal, Cairo, detail
The Midday Meal, Cairo, detail
The Midday Meal, Cairo, detail
A Party at Dinner or Supper
Court of a Private House in Cairo
A Cairo Bazaar—The Della'l
Prayers in the Desert
Postures of Prayer and Postures of Prayer Continued
The Lantern Maker's Courtship, A Street Scene in Cairo
A Halt in the Desert
The Hhareem, Cairo
Lilium Auratum
Hhareem Life—Constantinople
Hhareem Life—Constantinople, detail
Hhareem Life—Constantinople, detail
Hhareem Life—Constantinople, detail
Hhareem Life—Constantinople, detail
Hhareem Life—Constantinople, detail
Hhareem Life—Constantinople, detail
Hhareem Life—Constantinople, detail
And the Prayer of Faith Shall Save the Sick
And the Prayer of Faith Shall Save the Sick, detail
Hhareem Life—Constantinople, detail
Original Drawing for The Grammar of Ornament
Hhareem Life—Constantinople, detail
Hhareem Life—Constantinople, detail
Portrait of Giovanni(?) Arnolfini and His Wife
Portrait of Giovanni(?) Arnolfini and His Wife, detail
Annunciation Triptych (Merode Altarpiece)
Annunciation Triptych (Merode Altarpiece), detail
Ecce Ancilla Domini! (The Annunciation)
Caged Doves, Cairo
A Pet
Indoor Gossip
Outdoor Gossip
Indoor Gossip, detail
Indoor Gossip, detail
Indoor Gossip, detail
Outdoor Gossip, detail
A Lady Receiving Visitors (The Reception)
A Lady Receiving Visitors (The Reception), detail
A Lady Receiving Visitors (The Reception), detail
A Lady Receiving Visitors (The Reception), detail
A Lady Receiving Visitors (The Reception), detail
Reception in a Turkish Harem (In the Harem)
Pavement of a Durká'ah
Fountain and Suffeh
A Ká'ah
Life in the Hareem, Cairo; an Inmate of the Hareem, Cairo
Brewster's Stereoscope
A Frank Encampment in the Desert of Mount Sinai, 1842—The Convent of St. Catherine in the Distance
A Frank Encampment in the Desert of Mount Sinai, 1842—The Convent of St. Catherine in the Distance, detail
A Frank Encampment in the Desert of Mount Sinai, 1842—The Convent of St. Catherine in the Distance, detail
A Frank Encampment in the Desert of Mount Sinai, 1842—The Convent of St. Catherine in the Distance, detail
A Frank Encampment in the Desert of Mount Sinai, 1842—The Convent of St. Catherine in the Distance, detail
A Frank Encampment in the Desert of Mount Sinai, 1842—The Convent of St. Catherine in the Distance, detail
A Frank Encampment in the Desert of Mount Sinai, 1842—The Convent of St. Catherine in the Distance, detail
A Frank Encampment in the Desert of Mount Sinai, 1842—The Convent of St. Catherine in the Distance, detail
A Frank Encampment in the Desert of Mount Sinai, 1842—The Convent of St. Catherine in the Distance, detail
A Frank Encampment in the Desert of Mount Sinai, 1842—The Convent of St. Catherine in the Distance, detail
A Frank Encampment in the Desert of Mount Sinai, 1842—The Convent of St. Catherine in the Distance, detail
Convent of St. Catherine, Mount Sinai
A Frank Encampment in the Desert of Mount Sinai, 1842
John Frederick Lewis
Grave of John Frederick Lewis

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Contents

Emily M. Weeks

Cultures Crossed: John Frederick Lewis and the Art of Orientalism

Contents

Author

Emily M. Weeks

PublisherPaul Mellon Centre

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23340

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Acknowledgments

Emily M. Weeks

Cultures Crossed: John Frederick Lewis and the Art of Orientalism

Acknowledgments

Author

Emily M. Weeks

PublisherPaul Mellon Centre

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23341

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Introduction

Emily M. Weeks

Cultures Crossed: John Frederick Lewis and the Art of Orientalism

In the Bezestein, El Khan Khalil, Cairo (1860), also known as The Carpet Seller, should be one of John Frederick Lewis’s most straightforward pictures...

Author

Emily M. Weeks

PublisherPaul Mellon Centre

Related print edition pages: pp.1-9

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00344.1

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23342

Chapter subject tags:Lewis, John Frederick, 1804-1876Painting, British--19th centuryEgypt--Description and travel--19th centuryPainting, British--Ottoman influences

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1. Myth: The Artist as Mirage

Emily M. Weeks

Cultures Crossed: John Frederick Lewis and the Art of Orientalism

When Lewis arrived in Egypt in 1841, he was already an established artist and an experienced traveler...

Author

Emily M. Weeks

PublisherPaul Mellon Centre

Related print edition pages: pp.11-37

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00344.2

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23343

Chapter subject tags:Lewis, John Frederick, 1804-1876Thackeray, William Makepeace, 1811-1863Byron, George Gordon Byron, Baron, 1788-1824Painting, British--19th centuryEgypt--Description and travel--19th centuryPainting, British--Ottoman influencesClothing and dress--Ottoman influences

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2. Life of a “Lotus-Eater”

Emily M. Weeks

Cultures Crossed: John Frederick Lewis and the Art of Orientalism

The profound impact of Thackeray’s account on our understanding of Lewis is paralleled only by the profound impact that Egypt had on the artist himself...

Author

Emily M. Weeks

PublisherPaul Mellon Centre

Related print edition pages: pp.39-59

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00344.3

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23344

Chapter subject tags:Lewis, John Frederick, 1804-1876Architecture--EgyptCairo (Egypt)--HistoryClothing and dress--Ottoman influencesEgypt--Description and travel--19th centuryPainting, British--Ottoman influencesPainting, British--19th century

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3. A Body of Texts

Emily M. Weeks

Cultures Crossed: John Frederick Lewis and the Art of Orientalism

This chapter draws together the two strands of Lewis’s biography examined thus far – the myth and the documented reality of Lewis’s life in Cairo...

Author

Emily M. Weeks

PublisherPaul Mellon Centre

Related print edition pages: pp.61-85

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00344.4

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23345

Chapter subject tags:Lewis, John Frederick, 1804-1876Painting, British--19th centuryEthnology--EgyptHarems in artPainting, British--Ottoman influences

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4. Reflections on John Frederick Lewis

Emily M. Weeks

Cultures Crossed: John Frederick Lewis and the Art of Orientalism

~~In the previous chapter, points of tension were identified in three of Lewis’s paintings. Quotations from and allusions to disparate nineteenth-century texts shifted awkwardly across their surfaces and, as each source was acknowledged, modes of perception and understanding shifted as well. In this chapter, the highly referential...

Author

Emily M. Weeks

PublisherPaul Mellon Centre

Related print edition pages: pp.87-105

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00344.5

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23346

Chapter subject tags:Lewis, John Frederick, 1804-1876Harems in artPainting, British--19th centuryPainting, British--Ottoman influencesClothing and dress--Ottoman influencesRuskin, John, 1819-1900

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5. Gendered Geographies: John Frederick Lewis’s The Reception of 1873

Emily M. Weeks

Cultures Crossed: John Frederick Lewis and the Art of Orientalism

In 1864, Lewis painted Caged Doves, Cairo...

Author

Emily M. Weeks

PublisherPaul Mellon Centre

Related print edition pages: pp.107-127

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00344.6

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23347

Chapter subject tags:Lewis, John Frederick, 1804-1876Harems in artPainting, British--19th centuryWomen and genderPainting, British--Ottoman influences

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6. Orientalisms Transposed

Emily M. Weeks

Cultures Crossed: John Frederick Lewis and the Art of Orientalism

~~The radical political statements of The Reception and the fragility of patriarchal power structures that they suggest...

Author

Emily M. Weeks

PublisherPaul Mellon Centre

Related print edition pages: pp.129-143

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00344.7

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23348

Chapter subject tags:Lewis, John Frederick, 1804-1876Painting, British--19th centuryPainting, British--Ottoman influences

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Conclusion

Emily M. Weeks

Cultures Crossed: John Frederick Lewis and the Art of Orientalism

Lewis died in Walton-on-Thames on 15 August 1876. He was interred in the family vault in the quiet churchyard of Frimley Parish five days later...

Author

Emily M. Weeks

PublisherPaul Mellon Centre

Related print edition pages: pp.145-146

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00344.8

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23349

Chapter subject tags:Lewis, John Frederick, 1804-1876Painting, British--19th centuryPainting, British--Ottoman influences

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Appendix: John Ruskin, Review of A Frank Encampment in the Desert of Mount Sinai, 1842, Academy Notes (1856)

Emily M. Weeks

Cultures Crossed: John Frederick Lewis and the Art of Orientalism

The pictures in this pleasant room are so easily distinguishable and accessible, that I think it will be better to refer to them in the order of their importance...

Author

Emily M. Weeks

PublisherPaul Mellon Centre

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23350

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Bibliography

Emily M. Weeks

Cultures Crossed: John Frederick Lewis and the Art of Orientalism

Bibliography

Author

Emily M. Weeks