Orientalist Arts between Imagination and Experience

Abstract

The phenomenon of Orientalism in the plastic arts is one of the phenomena that has touched the spirit of Eastern and Western societies alike, and has penetrated into the core of the pivotal issues upon which many intellectuals and those interested in Arab affairs have built, because of its special repercussions and effects.

This study comes to shed light on the most important problems created by this phenomenon by raising several important questions, the most important of which is: What is the way in which Orientalist artists described and defined the structure of Eastern societies? What is the artistic method practiced by Orientalist artists in conveying and describing the Eastern environment? How was Western art influenced and affected Eastern arts and societies?

The importance of addressing this study is highlighted by examining the controversy surrounding this phenomenon, and the importance of studying the aesthetics of Western arts that were originally influenced by the aesthetics of Eastern and Islamic arts. The importance of this study is also highlighted by tracing the temporal and spatial conditions of Orientalist arts. This study assumes that Orientalist artists dealt with the arts of the East through two methods: the imaginary method and the method of tangible experience. By comparing the two methods, we find that there is a clear shift and development in the method of formulation and style in the arts of Orientalism, which unintentionally served the arts of the East by indulging in the magic of those. Arts.