American Orientalist Painters in Morocco, with Khalid Chaouch

The term "Orientalism" recalls both a Western artistic movement focused on depictions of an exotic "East" and reaching its apex in the 19th century, and Edward Said’s landmark book of the same title, which, of course, criticizes that very movement.

You may know some of the iconic names of Orientalist painting: Delacroix, Gerome, Gericault, but less talked about is the work of American Orientalist painters. Edwin Lord Weeks, Frederick Arthur Bridgman, and others were well known in the second half of the 19th century, in large part due to the work they produced during and inspired by their visits to Morocco.

What brought these American painters to Morocco? How did they depict Moroccan society, and what set their work apart from their contemporaries? On this episode of Moroccan/American, we’re joined today by Khalid Chaouch, Professor of ...