«Orientalism» in the Greek painting of 19th century: the case of Th. Rallis
Abstract
In the present study «Orientalism» in the 19th century Greek painting is being examined through the case of Theodor Rallis (1852-1909). «Orientalism», meaning the approach of Orient by the West, is transferred to the paintings of the previous century, in scenes from the countries of the Near East and those of North Africa. The effort of 19th century Greece to participate in the western world, makes the Greek painters, such as Rallis, who study in Europe and paint Greeek genre scenes, orientalist artists. Rallis, born in Constantinople to a wealthy commercial family, whose origin is from the island of Chios, goes to England and then to Paris to study painting. In Paris he becomes the student of the famous orientalist painter J.L.Gérôme. At that time, he travels a great deal to get inspiration for his painting mostly to the greek territory. He travels especially to the Mount-Athos that he describes in his travel book. In the majority of his paintings we can view scenes of ceremonies of the Orthodox Church and of young Greek women placed inside a religious ambient. The orientalist perception of Rallis is even mirrored in the illustration of Loukis Laras, in a book which relates to the adventures, of a young man from Chios, during the Greek revolution for idependence, who finally attains wealth in England after becoming involved in commercial activities. D. Vikelas, the Greek writer who resides at the time in Paris, intentionally describes that course of life, since what he has in mind is probably the life of a man from the artist's family, that of Rallis.
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Μακρυδημήτρης Α. (2017). «Orientalism» in the Greek painting of 19th century: the case of Th. Rallis. Comparison, 9, 156–175. https://doi.org/10.12681/comparison.11453
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- Vol. 9 (1998)
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