Certainly not a criticism of your fine work running this blog or of your mission for greater exposure to historical works depicting POCs; but how do you feel about the diminutive European gaze and fetishistic exoticization and/or eroticization that accompanies many of these pieces? Should these works be celebrated? Criticized? Both? Not an art or history major, just an interested party, so these are not meant to be leading questions in any way. Genuinely seeking to learn!
Almost every post I have that would fall under the category of Orientalism is accompanied by a link to an article like this, or this. Keep in mind that this particular genre came considerably later than the Middle Ages, but I cover those centuries too since no one else was doing so. Sometimes I add a few words of my own to a work that seems especially Out There:
A reminder that many of these paintings fall under the umbrella of Orientalism: most of these scenes never existed, and while live models were used, those models were almost always European and the scenes are a figment of Western fantasies. They in no way accurately depict these people or cultures. For more, read Chapter 1 (Misunderstandings) of The Middle East: A Cultural Psychology for more on how these misconceptions became a kind of Western canon.
Gaining an understanding of the ways in which these works both created and reinforced harmful stereotypes about people and cultures is definitely a prerequisite to appreciating them for what they do have to offer.
The way I think these works can be appreciated is as a connection or a precedent towards people of color in Fantasy art as a genre, and as a source of beauty rather than being seen as “ethnographic” or in any way representative of any actual peoples or cultures. They can also be appreciated as a celebration of individuals and modeling, and a celebration of personal beauty. Take for example Ludwig Deutsch’s The Palace Guard:
A work like this is mainly a work of fantasy, although the individual in the painting was certainly a model employed by the artist.
One thing that has made a few people cranky about what I post sometimes is my appreciation for fantasy illustration, including illustrated books, graphic novels, and a massive employer of fantasy illustrators, Wizards of the Coast (Dungeons and Dragons; Magic: The Gathering):
The point I’m trying to make here is a visual one, to show a sort of continuity that can be seen as both positive and negative, but overall is worthy of study, curation, analysis, and thoughtful contemplation.
Why is it that the older works are used to pigeonhole and stereotype people of color in academia, but fantasy illustrations are seen as a form of fantastical empowerment that people of color should be barred from participating in because it’s not “historically accurate”? We should work to untangle this double standard, and try to understand how racism (and many other forms of institutionalized bigotry) can perform a kind hypocrisy that ends up in the exclusion or erasure of people of color from art, as long as the goal is the upholding of whiteness. How can we counter that narrative? Does celebrating these works help or harm?
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