In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, an increasing number of collectors and museums began acquiring objects from the Middle East. What was being collected was largely influenced by the connoisseurship of a well-connected network of dealers whose activities coincided with the age of discovery, travel, and the World’s Fair, which led to competition among museums for “Orientalia.” In Europe, the practice of collecting artifacts from the Middle East was a by-product of colonial enterprises, which was mirrored in the United States by wealthy industrialist patrons, scholars, and museum curators who helped to establish encyclopedic collections in public and private institutions. As the alluring exoticism of the Middle East became more fashionable among the elite, it eventually spread into furniture, textiles, painting, the decorative arts, and architecture.
Continuing Education Units (CEU) : 0
Continuing Education Units (CEU) : 0
You'll walk away with
- Familiarity with the history of collecting and studying Middle Eastern art
- An understanding of Middle Eastern art styles
- The ability to identify Middle Eastern influences in European and American art and in New York City architecture
Ideal for
- Prospective and practicing arts professionals
- All members of the community—working, retired, and in between
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