Orientalist Aesthetics: Art, Colonialism, and French North Africa, 1880-1930

376 Pages·2003·8.09 MB·English

by  Roger Benjamin

ORIENTALIST AESTHETICS

Orientalist Aesthetics
ART, COLONIALISM, AND
FRENCH NORTH AFRICA, 1880–1930
Roger Benjamin
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
Berkeley / Los Angeles / London
University ofCalifornia Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles, California
University ofCalifornia Press, Ltd.
London, England
© 2003 by the Regents ofthe University ofCalifornia
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Benjamin, Roger, 1957–
Orientalist aesthetics : art, colonialism, and French
North Africa, 1880–1930 / Roger Benjamin.
p. cm.
“Ahmanson Murphy fine arts imprint.”
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn0-520-22217-2 (alk. paper)
1. Orientalism in art—France. 2. Orientalism in
art—Africa, North. 3. Painting, French—19th century.
4. Painting, French—20th century. 5. Africa, North—
In art. I. Title.
nd1460.e95 b46 2003
758'.995—dc21 2002022627
Printed in Canada
12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum
requirements ofansi/niso z39-48-1992 (r1997)
(Permanence ofPaper).8
For Kate, Sophia, and Stuart

Contents
Acknowledgments / ix
List of Illustrations / xiii
Introduction / 1
1. Orient or France? Nineteenth-Century Debates / 11
2. Renoir and Impressionist Orientalism / 33
3. A Society for Orientalists / 57
4. Orientalists in the Public Eye / 79
5. Colonial Panoramania / 105
6. Traveling Scholarships and the Academic Exotic / 129
7. Matisse and Modernist Orientalism / 159
8. Advancing the Indigenous Decorative Arts / 191
9. Mammeri and Racim, Painters of the Maghreb / 221
10. Colonial Museology in Algiers / 249
Conclusion / 275
Notes / 283
Selected Bibliography / 325
Index / 337

Acknowledgments
T
he story of this book’s long preparation has been a péripatieundertaken in diverse corners
of the globe. Despite the disembodying facilities of electronic mail, I think of the friends
and colleagues who have contributed so much as located in specific places.
The project was devised at the University of Melbourne, where Margaret Manion, Margaret Rid-
dle, Chris McAuli¤e, and the late John Pigot gave initial encouragement and advice. It became a re-
ality thanks to the award of a J. Paul Getty Postdoctoral Fellowship, which took me to Baltimore,
New York, and Paris. My work at Johns Hopkins was facilitated by Charles Dempsey, while Maria
Gough, Judith Butler and Yve-Alain Bois were valued interlocutors. A visit to the University ofTexas
at Austin gave me the benefit of Richard Shi¤’s guidance and support.
In New York the discovery at the Frick Art Reference Library of the catalogues of the Society of
French Orientalist Painters shaped my research in unforeseeable ways. My colleagues Christopher
Robinson, the regrettéRobert Boardingham, Fred Bohrer, John Klein, and Elizabeth Childs were the
source of excellent research clues. Two summer months in London provided some serendipitous ac-
quaintances, including Perry and Benedict Anderson, Gill Perry, Kathy Adler, and John House. In
France the Getty funds supported work at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France and the Musée Na-
tional des Arts d’Afrique et d’Océanie, and an all too brief journey to Tangier, Fez, and Meknès.
Robert Simon, Laurie Monahan, Barbara Comte, and Hélène Hourmat were most helpful, as were
ix