I've had to read the arguments for and against Orientalism in 3 different courses. Orientalist art isn't problematic because it depicts every day life. It's problematic when it continued to depict the middle east as static, frozen in time at the height of the Ottoman Empire. I've done research on historical fashion of the middle east. It was mandatory in the Ottoman Empire since 1850 to wear western dress. You can see photographs and read travel accounts of people discussing how people of the middle east dressed. Prior to then, during the 1810's when the Balkans were taken over by Russia, locals immediately adopted western dress and had western style fashion houses in under 2 years. Also the Middle East was incredibly diverse during the 18th and 19th century because Christians and Jews also lived there and had their own styles of dress. You rarely see depictions of those people's in art from Western artists during this period. I will not say that every artist was trying to depict what they dreamed. But it is hard to accept that most artists were portraying reality in their work due to restricted access. There are paintings that depict nonsense Arabic or imaginative squiggles on the walls of mosques. There are paintings of women in Turkish baths that no men would have been allowed to enter. Many depictions of harems are also a male artist's idea of what it would look like, as only males allowed inside were eunuchs and family members. Many women are portrayed to be scantily clad or nude, when that would have gone entirely against their religious and social values. We can't simply brush all of this off and say artists were depicting what they saw. Art can depict reality, but artists also depict what they dream. Both can exist and be true at the same time.

@lobstermash

7 ай бұрын

And don't forget that most artists paint what they can easily sell. The tradition of covertly salacious images in disguise (such as fake "harem" scenes) goes back much further than "orientalism" - many a buxom virgin and child or classical goddess was painted to be ogled.

@casimirgythe2181

7 ай бұрын

People in Japan wear western clothes all the time. It doesn't mean they stopped wearing kimono. Also, the artists weren't selling their paintings as documentary evidence of how the sultan's court looked in the 1860s. It's almost like there's a phrase for that... artistic license! Squiggles are a time honored tradition. Yes, let us blame these artists for not first becoming fully fluent in Arabic and not getting every dot, dash, and hamza correct. A law must be issued to stop artists from making squigglies that suggest the presence of writing! Do you know what men fantasize about besides the Roman empire? Wow, a guy painted a picture of a hot woman in a exotic setting. Truly that is awful and has never been done before except by these terrible European painters. What depraved perverts lol. Where are you getting that all of these are documentary pieces? Some are obviously fantastical. The works aren't entitled "Reporting live from the Harem Peephole - Odalisque Slumber Party, 1852" But maybe being purposefully obtuse is what allows your fantasy to work.

@dariapack8906

7 ай бұрын

@@casimirgythe2181 thing about art is that it influences how people think and approach a subject. The middle east narratively in the west has *consistently* been stereotyped as a mysterious land full of oppressed women and hostile warlike men who need other people to solve their problems for them. The ottoman empire was considered a western power, but also like a child trying to impersonate one at the same time. "Orientalism" by Edward Said for a better understanding. You may also find "The Question of Orientalism" by Bernard Lewis to show some insight into how Orientalists bristled at Said's arguments. Definitely give a look at "At All the Shah's Men" for insight into how the US overthrew Iranian Democracy in the 1940's to protect them from communism, but in reality was trying to let Britain maintain control over their natural resources. When it comes to fetishization of Muslim Women, feel free to endure the condescension of the author in "Do Muslim Women Need Saving?" "Re-Presenting the Harem: Orientalist Female Artists and the 19th century Ottoman Empire" by Megan McDaniel and "Gender, Orientalism and the War on Terror" by Maryam Khalid may also be enlightening. But if you really want insight into how perception of the middle east impacts how the people who live their are treated, look no further than "Iran Awakening" by Shirin Ebadi and the French animated film "Persepolis". I am not saying the art is bad or completely racist. I am saying that the bias of every person influences their work and understanding of the world. Art can be used for propaganda as much as it can be used to educate or inspire. Take a look at how people from the middle east are portrayed in film and media have been portrayed in the last 25 years. How often are they given the role of heros or nuanced protagonists? Even in the animated version of Alladin, the opening song calls their culture barbaric. One can't ignore the fact that perceptions of a nation, a religion, or a people as whole loses its context and nuance if a mass majority of media upholds stereotypes. Japan has its own nuance and context too. From how it responded to western infiltration. To chosing to adopt western culture and technology in the idea of "if you can't beat them, join them". The western world consumes media that Japan has put out. Japan is not viewed as poor 3rd world country that hasn't progressed since the 18th century. The Roman empire is seen as the ancestor of the western world. Its seen as the inheritance of the West, a power that shaped our ideas and notions of several nations identies. It's fetishization is based off the art Rome itself produced. The middle east has not been extended that same courtesy despite its preservation of Greek and Roman texts during the european Dark Ages. Art can be appreciated for the sake of art. But it doesn't exist in a bubble. It's a response. You are right people do depict random squiggles all the time. That's why people didn't want to give credit to the peoples of the mezzo or South American the credit for founding and building their own ancient monuments. Many of the first depiction of Mayan script have elephants and other Hindu elements. Things that we're not actually in the glyphs standing right in front of them. Still, those artists continued to perpetuate the theory that it was another known civilization that created these structures. Ever heard of people claiming things like the pyramids or nazca lines were made by aliens? Yeah. That comes from the notion that western people are the only civilizations capable of being smart enough to build incredible things. Hark back to the Romans. Nobody claims the colloseum was made by aliens. Because that's considered nonsense.

@P333KM

7 ай бұрын

well said!

@kjmav10135

7 ай бұрын

Thank you for adding research and informed opinion to these comments. The title of this video uses the word “nuance,” and you’ve added a bit more nuance to this discussion. People may agree or disagree, but you definitely have added to the discourse. Thanks!

Julian: "With a wax-based adhesive" The entire audience: "IT'S HOT TABLE TIME BAYBEEE LETS GO"

@MeMe-gm9di

7 ай бұрын

I mean it was hot table time as soon as he mentioned the impressions... But it's more hot table time!

@kombatangel

7 ай бұрын

Could you imagine a drinking game base on Julian’s videos? We’d all be sozzled halfway through! 😂

I don’t know anything about art history but I’m gonna need some popcorn before I get into this comments section

For those unfamiliar with Said, here's wikipedia's description of this book: "Orientalism is a 1978 book by Edward W. Said, in which the author establishes the term "Orientalism" as a critical concept to describe the West's commonly contemptuous depiction and portrayal of The East, i.e. the Orient. Societies and peoples of the Orient are those who inhabit the places of Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East. Said argues that Orientalism, in the sense of the Western scholarship about the Eastern World, is inextricably tied to the imperialist societies who produced it, which makes much Orientalist work inherently political and servile to power.[1]" As others have noted, its definitely more nuanced than Julian's comment, and not strictly related to art. if you are interested in these ideas or feel defensive of the art/artists (Said is not arguing about the beauty of the art, but about its relationship to colonial power structures) i would encourage reading Said's work or looking at other scholarship on Orientalism.

@casimirgythe2181

7 ай бұрын

The problem with critical theories is that the moment you put on that lens, everything becomes problematic because of the theory's bias. If you have a painting that is a caricature of the people and is portraying them in false light or obviously racist stereotypes then yes, Said might have a point. But if the painting is of a Moroccan man sitting at a table during the day, then no it's idiotic to then ascribe the horrors of colonial legacy to that work. Some works are just as they appear, a wonderful composition with a striking subject. Other works can be very political. But to confuse the two is to be purposefully stupid or malevolent in an attempt to manipulate people. Were there artists that could be described as Said is suggesting, yes sure, is every work and every artist doing that, obviously not. As the title of the video implies, "Radical Nuance" each work and each artist has its own nuance. Reductively dumping them all into a set of "problematic/colonial/racist/sexist/etc" art is a tired, stupid, and boring technique used by Marxist 101 undergrads and those under its influence to create windmills for their Quixotic delusional crusade against fake made up problems. I would encourage other people before reading anything to look at the painting, look at how it portrays the subject, to think about the artist who spent time painting it, and then ask themselves, if I was the subject and saw this work, would it offend me? If your answer is no, then you probably don't need to do extra research to find out why you should be offended or why you a century plus later, a culture different, and sitting thousands of miles away should be offended on behalf of the subject.

@JacquesDeLeon

7 ай бұрын

​@@casimirgythe2181And do you think your argument is helped or hindered by calling another opinion "stupid"?

@belneste

6 ай бұрын

@@JacquesDeLeon it's not just "another opinion", it's cancel culture. And yes, that is stupid to - reductively dump everything into a category of 'problematic', and to then go on a crusade.

@dalekjast5

5 ай бұрын

​@belneste there is a big difference between being critical of something and 'canceling' it. As an anthropologist, it's important to understand that some, and the original comment does say much, art will show the sitter in different views that correlate with the painter's view on the society. You have to try and understand the implicit bias (which is subconcious) to figure out if an artwork is true to fact or not. One also has to separate their own bias' from the work they do in order to keep it from corrupting the work. It's also important to understand that not everyone is viewing this art. Art used to be seen as something only those in high society, those with money and power, viewed. Therefore they'd influence those parts of the world based on their ideas of what was existing there. So if an artist paints a simple scene, but imparts his bias of it being riddled with poverty, this can be done with colors chosen or the placement of shadows that western viewers would subconsciously read as 'poor', then the person buying the art will assume the sitter is poor, or unhygienic. Being critical of a system, like how we know that brain capacity between people doesn't really effect intelligence but they believed it did in the 1800s, doesn't mean we can't improve upon it and take the bits that work out, like how there's sometimes roughly a 25cc brain capacity difference between males and females and in some cases that helps investigators identify missing and dead people. Cancel culture would be throwing the whole system out, and erasing it from history, much like the ancient Egyptians did to pharaohs they didn't like, not finding the issues with a system and setting about fixing it, which can only come through being critical.

@ChrisGalardi

5 ай бұрын

lmao responses to this comment appear to sum up to“don’t read critical theory because it’ll turn you woke” people still getting upset about Said generations after his work was integrated into serious thinking on these topics and we all moved on

Cool thing about the varnish, is even if it's old and yellow - the fact you can remove it and see such bright colors underneath says the varnish totally did its job.

@ordulf7193

7 ай бұрын

Well, part of its job. It became too yellowed to do the other part of its job well.

@dawn5227

7 ай бұрын

​@ordulf7193 the varnish wasn't yellow when it was first applied so it did its job for a period of time.

@xerodeus2337

7 ай бұрын

@@ordulf7193 Yeah I just mean, the major purpose of varnish is to protect a painting. That's what it did. It just also happened to yellow after some time lol!

@SeekingTheLoveThatGodMeans7648

7 ай бұрын

@@xerodeus2337 Modern conservation varnishes do both parts, for they do not yellow.

@cindyknudson2715

6 ай бұрын

​@@xerodeus2337 I agree.

To explain simply why the “intentions” of orientalist artists don’t matter: I’m sure every amateur artist who eagerly dipped their toes into painting restoration and (either temporarily or permanently) ruined a painting also had good intentions - they weren’t TRYING to ruin the painting, to insult the original artist, I’m sure on some level they “loved” that piece too. But that doesn’t change the final outcome and the harm they’d done, however unintentional it was.

@iandonnelly6684

7 ай бұрын

I like how you put it in context

@Scriptadiaboly

7 ай бұрын

Great analogue

@oz_jones

7 ай бұрын

How dare the people of the past live as if they aren't people of the future!

@BlueCoolOla

7 ай бұрын

@@oz_jones Please explain.

@sylviekoenig9960

7 ай бұрын

@@BlueCoolOla I understand what oz_jones mean. However it is not always as simple as that.

The painting has moved from late afternoon, almost twilight, to mid morning. It is beautiful. Good work!!

@alexanderscholz8855

7 ай бұрын

You are awesome! I was searching for Words and i only posted Emojis. You are brilliant! Exactly this!!!!!!

Beautiful work! That said, of all the occupations, artists don’t really have the best history of not fetishizing something..

It amazes me how, especially fabric, can go from a flat, almost cartoonish, look to a pillowy flowing fabric, simply by removing the varnish. Makes me wonder how all the paintings I've stared at in my life actually were supposed to look.

@Sarandosil

7 ай бұрын

It's because it flattens out the values (shading). A lot of the sense of depth in a drawing is carried by reproducing the patterns light forms when it hits a geometric form. old varnish, especially as it collects dust, converges the whole image to a kind of middle gray because light is reflecting off the accumulated dust. If you pay attention to the before and afters you can see that the dark parts of the paintings get darker just as the light parts get lighter, that contrast between light and dark is really import to making the 3d illusion work. source: am art student

Honesty i love the way Julian narrates his process to cater to anyone so first yime viewers will understand it, instead of just saying its a hot table you all have seen it 200 times now.

A beautiful portrait! Really not a fair assessment of Edward Said's work or thesis at the beginning, however, which overshadowed this video for me. Said dedicated his life to understanding how colonized people were represented by colonizers in colonial-era literature particularly. The complex dynamics between interpersonal relationships (which may be positive) and broader power structures (which were overwhelmingly exploitative - including in North Africa) are a huge part of what Said discusses across volumes of his work. I would recommend rather that accepting the summary provided here, people should read Said's work for themselves.

@ChrisGalardi

5 ай бұрын

Yes it is incredibly naive and anyone who’s engaged with the field of study would laugh at this casual dismissal of one of the most important sociological authors of the 20th century.

@MrCroel

4 ай бұрын

@@ChrisGalardi Important to leftists because he was one of them.

@quietquitter6103

4 ай бұрын

Said was an absolute wank stain and his work is worthless tom foolery.

@AlexisHiemis

4 ай бұрын

Yeah, agreed, I was a bit saddened that this argument was presented so onesided and comically overblown. People can still agree or disagree, but flattening down the argument because you don't agreee with it is always a bad look.

@quietquitter6103

4 ай бұрын

@@ChrisGalardi I studied Said and was repulsed by his work. Not that some of the implications weren't merited, but his work was what was one-sided - not our reactions to it.

My soul died when Julian uttered the phrase, "Glued to a sheet of Masonite."

@artbysamc

Ай бұрын

I literally gagged when he said it ToT

As a Moroccan specifically from Tangier "The bride of the north" born and raised watching your videos for years, this was the least expected restoration ever! Tangier has a history of attracting renowned painters and artists. The city's unique cultural blend, picturesque landscapes, and vibrant atmosphere have made it an appealing destination for artists seeking inspiration. Notable painters and artists, such as Henri Matisse and Eugène Delacroix, have been drawn to Tangier for its artistic inspiration. Additionally, American expatriate artists, like Paul Bowles and Tennessee Williams, spent time in Tangier, further contributing to the city's reputation as a hub for creative minds.

@furrymessiah

7 ай бұрын

Seeing your comment after all the white guilt in the comments is like a breath of cool, fresh air.

@Bookwright

7 ай бұрын

Lovely Cosmopolitan city Tangier. It has only been an international hotspot for about 2000 to 3400 years.

@jazzjj7665

7 ай бұрын

@@furrymessiahhuh where 😭

@furrymessiah

7 ай бұрын

@@jazzjj7665 Don't look! You'll need retouching if you see it!

@alex24mamba

7 ай бұрын

​@furrymessiah that's what I'm saying. Keep that woke $hit somewhere else. Lol. I'm an artist and what's truly amazing is that most artist just painted what they observed. They honestly could not have cared at all about being racist or any of that stuff. When your painting you have to focus, and you also have to love what your painting. People are just looking for an argument in the comments.

Saying artists didn’t fetishize the people is certainly a broad statement

@casinohabibi

7 ай бұрын

in this context its a racist one actually

@TheInflationRate

7 ай бұрын

I would disagree. Misguided, sure, but racist? How so?

@PeanutBee_IDV

7 ай бұрын

The whole reason orientalism became such a problem was because these European artists were changing the realities they saw to better suit European expectations so these paintings could sell. Regardless of their feelings, artists have to make money. While there were absolutely artists that simply painted what they saw, it was a little sad to hear him downplay the criticism here. As he said though, this painting seems to be one of the examples of one made out of simple love of the culture and people… hopefully

@niksimurdak

7 ай бұрын

Even more flatly racist to say that about the slew of work out of the orientalism movement. Like, it's in the name! I've never heard someone so quickly dismiss Edward Said's work like that, as if he's naive for pointing out the way British and more broadly European art contributes to the colonialist effort to exocitize the "Middle East" and extract resources from it. Like?? Truly out of pocket interpretation here.

@RoseDelightful

7 ай бұрын

Not only broad, it's blatantly false... I'm only one class away from graduating with a BA in art education & I'm convinced he's never read any of Said's work. The fact that he only displays depictions of mundane life when a very large part of orientalism was looking to depict sexual fantasies is concerning. Many artists who became synonymous with orientalism never even visited the places they depicted & became fascinated with a version of "the east" that doesn't exist in reality after reading or hearing about fake cultural practices (or even worse, they did go & lied to appeal to Europeans). It doesn't really take much effort to find this kind of information, even the Wikipedia page for orientalism features quite a few fetishistic works of nude women in spaces it wasn't culturally normal to be nude in & infamous harem paintings.

I really like your work but I'm a POS english major and so I feel the need to say that I think you've misunderstood what orientalism is. From what I understand Said is discussing the way that the "western" understanding of african and asian cultures forms how they interact with them. This understanding is however, distorted by previous westerners which dictates how these interactions will be recieved and understood. It's basically a self amplifying lens that westerners viewed other cultures during both imperialist colonization and decolonization following WWI and II. I highly recomend reading Said if you haven't and also reading Home Rule by Nandita Sharma as her work builds off of Said's and expands upon the ideas of post colonialism and the damage it does.

you're dramatically misrepresenting Said's thesis. almost cartoonishly so

I hope everyone yelled out Hi Kit just like I did! :) how much more stunning is that now that it's been cleaned and properly taken care of just beautiful.

@grittykitty50

7 ай бұрын

I TOTALLY did!!

@britaggies2365

7 ай бұрын

I was a bit perturbed, maybe jealous, when Julian first introduced his intern. Now I miss Kit! She's cool. Would love to know how she's progressing and see what she's working on!

@projektkobra2247

7 ай бұрын

I let out an audible groan.

@phranerphamily

7 ай бұрын

@@projektkobra2247 😂😂

@StefanCreates

7 ай бұрын

@@britaggies2365 I'm hoping to see a Kit exclusive video on this channel one day ^^

This guy really had a way with painting light. A really lovely portrait. (ed: Gordon Coutts is the guy)

@vincentmancini6279

7 ай бұрын

I miss the name of the artist.

@thorwaldjohanson2526

7 ай бұрын

I agree, the mastery of light in the fabric is exquisite!

This may be my favourite painting that you've restored. So beautiful, subtle and full of contemplation. Truly an exceptional artist who took great care in capturing this scene originally and an exceptional conservator who has now preserved it so that it can be enjoyed for years to come!

You can love something and think it is problematic. We can be grateful for his work and know that he was participating in perpetuating harmful stereotypes. We can know his intention was good, but that his impact was varied. If someone says something is problematic, please consider using an and/both viewpoint instead of an either/or viewpoint. It will help us view this work of art as a whole in a web of complex history, instead of something wholly good or bad. As a long time watcher, I think you usually strive for seeing that complexity and I value that. This time, you might have oversimplified a bit.

@Airsaber

7 ай бұрын

Well said!!

@casimirgythe2181

7 ай бұрын

That's simple presentism. How dare people in the time they live behave as if they're not future people! If you look at what is being shown, the works are a wide variety of genre paintings. They're no more problematic than those painted by the Netherlandish masters. Said's point is uselessly reductive and prevents anyone not from the region from painting anything of that region. That's essentialism on steroids and does nothing for the art historical value of these pieces. The works are tremendous as they are windows into these times and places. Your present day opinion on colonialism or whatever you're channeling doesn't have anything to do with these painters who obviously took extreme care to render their subjects in a way faithful to what they saw and encountered. Have you ever been to some of these places? They are striking, and wonderful, and exotic, and beautiful. Imagine what it would be like at the time of the painting when you can't instantly watch travel videos or scroll through Instagram feeds to become jaded. Said's critique of Orientalism is a cover for his politics and its refreshing to see someone like Julian push past the bog standard academic narrative and deal with these paintings and painters on their own terms and merits.

@Airsaber

7 ай бұрын

@@casimirgythe2181: I'm afraid you completely missed the point and it doesn't look like you understand more nuanced than "black or white" opinions, so I'll leave it at this: no, the world doesn't work that way. The fact that humans did reprehensible or just... a bit worse than "morally ambiguous" things in the past doesn't mean that they were faultless or that their deeds were harmless just because a certain type of behaviour was more widely accepted (then again - more widely accepted by which social groups? those whose voice mattered? and accepted or suffered in silence because there was no choice? etc, etc) or that certain terms didn't exist or weren't widespread back then.

@casimirgythe2181

7 ай бұрын

@@Airsaber Do you understand why presentism is a logical fallacy? And what EXACT reprehensible thing are you suggesting Coutts did other than paint a wonderful picture? Can you actually defend your claim? Be precise now, I'd like to know how it is you've come by this knowledge that gives you the authority to make such a claim. Or are you just painting him in your own black and white colors of oppressor/oppressed? No one suggested that people haven't done bad and evil things. Obviously they have, but not all people are bad and evil. Sometimes a painting of a Moroccan man is just a painting of Moroccan man. Unless you actually know when and when not to apply a critical lens, you're going to make the mistake of assigning things as being "problematic" when its just your own bias on display.

@Airsaber

7 ай бұрын

@@casimirgythe2181: Yep, unfortunately you didn't get the point. I suggest re-reading the comments not agreeing with the rather flippant/dismissive tone re: the aforementioned book and term. And I'm afraid that you are the only person talking about this who writes comments that suggest that the author of said comments sees things in black and white. Nobody else here is talking in such absolutes - on the contrary, people are asking for more nuance.

Julian, I love your work and what you do, I have been watching your videos for years, but I have to say I was disappointed to hear how critical of Said you are. I have studied and written about Said in academic contexts, maybe the art world’s understanding of Said is different than the political science world, but I think your description of his thesis is such an oversimplification that it becomes inaccurate, and I was hoping my perspective on Said might be able to clarify a few things. Said argues that cultural exchange is based around perceptions. Europe has a perception of what it means to be European, and what it means to not be European. He argued that European scholars, writers, and artists, who produced media based on “the Orient” operated through the lens of what it means to be “Uneuropean.” This is not the fault of any individual artist, I’m sure they had a deep admiration for the cultures they were studying and attempted to convey that through their art, but perceptions still shape our worldview and how we produce. Said argued that the ultimate impact of Orientalism was a proliferation of the idea that the Orient was whimsical and beautiful, but also alien, underdeveloped, and perverted, worldviews which acted as a justification for colonialism. Said did not argue that “anything a European says about the middle east is bad and racist” but that the cultural movement of Orientalism served as a catalyst for some bad things Europe would go on to do in the middle east. These paintings are beautiful and should be cherished as treasures and invaluable parts of history, but part of understanding history is knowing their complex cultural impact. Hope this finds you well!

@RumoHasIt

7 ай бұрын

Thank you so much for this, I came to the comments section specifically for more info on Said.

@Shae_Sandybanks

7 ай бұрын

💯

@Man-ej6uv

7 ай бұрын

i hope he sees this

@michellehill4148

7 ай бұрын

Thank you, I was about to add my two cents, but you said it best.

@happybat1977

7 ай бұрын

Well said. It is hard to imagine how Jean-Léon Gérôme's The Slave Market could possibly be understood as anything other than objectifying, especially given the unreality of the scene.

The light coming through the fabric behind his face really makes this painting.

I am a bit surprised by the short tangent in the beginning about Said's "Orientalism", since the book does not address visual arts at all. There is literary criticism and an investigation into historical accounts of the middle east by western writers, and a description of how the presentation of the middle east in those works is tied to imperialist power dynamics, how our view of the Orient was created and how it shapes our understanding in turn. In light of this, calling his argument "reductionist" is pretty awkward, and slightly ironic. Other than that I enjoyed the video greatly, as I always do with content this channel puts out, just wanted to mention this.

@iandonnelly6684

7 ай бұрын

I fear his rejection might have to do with the current situation in Israel/Palestine. But i dont want to speculate lol.

@elax75

7 ай бұрын

@@iandonnelly6684 I've been following this comment section for the past 2 days because I was a bit shaken. I made comments similar to yours. Some people have had a more generous interpretation of Julian's "misunderstanding" of Saïd's work and tried their best not to speculate, given the general (and deserved) admiration for his work. But yeah, I can't wrap my head around it. I wonder whether Julian will address it in the future. Tbh it'd probably be safer for his channel to let the issue die and get on with the next restoration vid as if nothing had happened, but who knows ?

@suburbanhomestead

7 ай бұрын

⁠@@elax75I agree. considering one can enjoy a work of art only through its aesthetic qualities and/or view it through its historical/cultural dimension, it may be wise for Julian to focus solely on the aesthetic aspect if treating the historical/social aspect cannot be done with enough nuance within this video format. Critical inquiry is highly valuable to understand the world but its oversimplification may hurt more than help its objective.

@nam3ofus3r

7 ай бұрын

Said was a complete and utter fool.

@casimirgythe2181

7 ай бұрын

It's because art history is equal parts visual critique as it is literary/poltical/cultural/religious critique. Said's Orientalist arguments are trotted out to undergrads and grad students who are often getting their first blush of "Critical Theory" aka Marxism and many other concepts that are often horrifically misapplied by people who don't know enough but don't have the wisdom to keep their uninformed opinions to themselves. Said's Orientalism is one of the gateway texts to anything anti-European if you're interested in the colonial period. It allows for an instant vilification of one group and victimization of another group. This then allows the budding academic to create utterly inane "hot takes" on any work that you think could be "problematic." Said does have some valid criticisms but they have to be applied properly. That requires research, context, evidence, and actual thought. That a lot of times is unfortunately missing from people who want basically a premade academic theory to support their "I want free stuff" or "Europeans bad!" opinion. Applying Said's Orientalism to this work is idiotic just as its wrong to many works which are essentially North African and Middle Eastern genre paintings.

Once it is finished you really can see light through the cloth around his head...Amazing skill. Charles

It's interesting how the actual top comments, criticizing and disagreeing with his dismissal of Said and orientalism, disappear when I hit the "sort by" and go from "newest" back to "top." What is happening here?

@transgender0_

7 ай бұрын

I noticed this too!!!! Fucked up

When Julian mentioned the name Gordon Coutts I thought "Why does that sound familiar?" When he mentioned Palm Springs, I went "AH!" Living in the Palm Springs area, I've heard his name and of Villa Dar Marroc many times. He's considered one of the founders of the city, and was one of a couple dozen artists who lived and worked here in the early 20th century before Palm Springs became famous as a movie colony.

This is one of the most striking paintings I've ever seen. Among all the paintings I've seen you do, none has captured an emotion so strongly, nor light interaction so vividly, in so much detail with so few strokes. I see why so many artists fell in love with the sun in this part of the world.

@AthenaSchroedinger

7 ай бұрын

I have to agree. There is something about this particular painting that makes it stand out.

@elliepascoe5954

7 ай бұрын

Totally agree, I fell in love with this painting, wow!❤

as a moroccan i’m not sure how i feel about the portrait itself HOWEVER you slayed

@cindyknudson2715

6 ай бұрын

Why would you object to this marvelous painting?

@justkiddin84

5 ай бұрын

The subject does not seem to have been disrespected. And it’s from the 1800’s so his clothing, etc is correct.

@quietquitter6103

4 ай бұрын

What the hell is wrong with the painting at all, let alone to a Moroccan?

The details with folding the fabric is just pure beauty!

As soon as Julian said “old conservation work”, I thought “oh boy, here we go…” Amazing job, Julian!!! ❤️❤️❤️👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Love the work and i am a long time follower, but to reduce a lifes work and dismiss it, is not ok. I havent tead Said, but i think I might now. The fact is that you seem to he hung up on the word 'fetishization" because it has a sordid history. Try to insert yhe word "enthralled" or "obsession". These people were just living their lives when colonziers decided they were "Exotic". This made more colonizers flock to the area and they arent known for kindness towards locals .. just sayin.. Colonizers gonna Colonize

I’ve been following your blogs for over 12 months now and haven’t commented on the amazing work you do. But this vlog deserves great praise. The painting was already beautiful and mysterious but after you finished your craftsmanship, you have enhanced the beauty and the mystery of it. ❤❤❤

3:07 "the artists certainly did not" .... Sure mate 👀 Looking at the title of that piece & being a Muslim myself, with Morocco being a Muslim country these pictures of men "prostrating" to the king like they are praying is sus as hell to me!! It wouldn't happen as would be against the religion. & no they are not praying as all would be facing the same way. Even bowing is looked down on but it happened sure, my point who is to say the artist didn't play it up to make it look better for the painting. Just adding my two cents to what some of the other more thoughtful & well worded statements have said in the comments section about your take on orientalism. Even the example paintings you gave are not all great is my point. And to some of the pushback to those thoughtful takes. Im not white, so this isn't a white guilt take lol. On a more positive note, great restoration video as always.

@melodymacken9788

6 ай бұрын

Beautifully said.

you're lucky i like this channel and love to watch the restoration cuz i almost turned the video off when you claimed to know more about orientalism than Edward Said 😅 the idea that fetishization is always deliberately hateful or with an eye toward colonization is false, plenty of orientalist artists "loved what they saw" and still warped the cultures they depicted when they did so because that's like? basically how human point of view works??? if you read said you would know that.

@AvalonDreamz

6 ай бұрын

Edward Saids work is racist theory. You have to be a racist to believe in all the critical race theories out there to begin with. What positive change does his work or any of the other bring to society? How does it unite society and help spread peace and love in any way shape or form? How does it bring positive solutions for issues our society is facing today since all this has been applied it seems onto everyones brains? Because I see nothing but racism on the rise, hate, division, blame placed where it doesn't belong, and nothing positive being applied or put in place of what is destroyed over something that is theory not even fact.

@el_m3allem

6 ай бұрын

@@AvalonDreamz begone chud! i don't care what you think

My grandfather worked directly for Mr Mason (Masonite) from the late 20s and early 30s into the 60s. The history of that product is interesting. I enjoyed hearing you mention it, even though it wasn't great for this painting. I always appreciate your videos.

@SeekingTheLoveThatGodMeans7648

7 ай бұрын

How did affixing the painting to a solid flat backing create vertical striations rather than a more generally wrinkled look?

@johnopalko5223

7 ай бұрын

@@SeekingTheLoveThatGodMeans7648 Julian, at one point, mentioned that it looked like corrugated cardboard was involved somehow. I can't begin to imagine how cardboard got into the act.

@MageeMC

7 ай бұрын

@@johnopalko5223 Could cardboard have been used on the front of the painting to help apply even pressure to the front, in order to press the painting and the wax resin onto the masonite? If so, then the striations from the cardboard could have been molded into the wax between the painting and the masonite. When the wax cooled the striations were there in the hardened wax.

@johnopalko5223

7 ай бұрын

@@MageeMC That's definitely a possibility. In fact, it's most like exactly what happened, now that I think about it. All in all, it was a hack job. I'm glad Julian was able to rescue it.

Hey Kit, good to see your cameo!

It's one thing to paint a portrait of a person, but to look at a painting and see an individual, his character, his personage, is as rare as this painting is beautiful.

I love everything you do, but I *especially* love watching you un-do shoddy restoration work, stripping a piece down as close as you can to its original state and building it back up again.

I wouldn’t call orientalism an art movement, it’s a theme, a tendency, or even a genre. Academic, romantic, symbolist, Fauve painters, and more, tried themselves at orientalism. And I do believe a big part of them have very reductive not to say racist views on the so called “Orient”. Just by looking for example at the number of “harem” scene, “odalisque” or lascivious “slave”. Not the case in this beautiful painting of course.

@witcht

7 ай бұрын

I mean, to be fair, the reason so many people painted it was bcs it captured their attention, it was pretty different that what they saw at home. And i don't think we can judge people, too much, by WHAT interests them, so long as they don't present such things in a deceiving and mean spirited way that doesn't reflect reality, imo. And it's not like things like harems and odalisques didn't exist, unless there is something about it that I'm not aware of? Is it the WAY they painted it that bothers you or is it something else?

@call-rickey

7 ай бұрын

@@witcht It's less an issue of whether or not the images depicted by European painters of 'the Orient' were real or not (they most often weren't) and more an issue of numbers. For most people in Europe and America, paintings like Gerome's "The Slave Market" were their only images of what life in the Middle East looked like. Their's good evidence to prove that these paintings were seen as anthropological works, near perfect depictions of the 'Other.' I also agree with the original commenter here- Orientalism involves the complicated relationship between those who produce knowledge (academics and artists like Gerome) and colonial military forces. One reinforces the other. Think about how US media depicting Arabs as terrorists in the 80s-2000s reinforced the cultural image of the Arab as a violent, religious radical. US intervention in the Middle East is made a lot easier if the US people believe the country needs to be protected from Arabs. Said sought to highlight this relationship- not dismiss all art made by Westerners about the East as racist. It's a pretty meaningful reduction of what Said hoped to point out. His original argument is broad, yes, but it leaves a lot of room for complexity. Just because something engages with Orientalism doesn't make it inherently bad- how are people from the region ever meant to challenge the entire construction if just by engaging with its signifiers they're doing a bad, evil thing. Said himself is Palestinian-American. He's well aware of these kinds of complications. Anyway, sorry for the paragraphs. I've spent a lot of time reading with and against Said and I was really disappointed by BR's definition of the topic.

@iandonnelly6684

7 ай бұрын

​@@witcht harems didnt exist in they way they are currently portrayed. A the harem was the womens quarters a place where no men could go so they could hang around without being all covered up.

@reis5011

7 ай бұрын

@@call-rickey thank you! julien's discussion on the subject bothered me and i couldnt have explained it any better than you did

@casimirgythe2181

7 ай бұрын

@@witcht The guy you replied to doesn't seem to get that 19th/20th century dudes painted 19th/20th century pinups. Sometimes a harem scene isn't a critique on culture or women or politics. Sometimes its just an excuse to paint hot women in a cool scene. They're basically male fantasies about the female locker room. It's why they're naked and having pillow fights. Its because guys think about that type of stuff and usually its not much deeper than "Tits! or Ass!" You hit the nail on the head though. People WANT to judge this stuff and its easy to apply (insert random -ism here) to whatever they're looking at. Did some artists do nefarious things, sure. Or maybe some artists just thought it would be cool to paint a naked woman in a oriental palace. Maybe the artist isn't racist, maybe he was just a pervert and liked titties. Unless there's specific information on what the artist ACTUALLY intended when painting the piece, it's just bad attempts at mind reading from decades to centuries later by people looking to be outraged.

I have noticed that the quality of the paintings you work on for your videos have been increasingly improved. This one in particular is extremely good and beautiful. On the other side it’s impressive how many great painters are in very different parts of the world, many of them unknown or unnoticed.

I agree that there's a difference between respect/reverence for a culture/subject and objectification; I'm not quite sure countering a broad stroke with a broad stroke works, especially if you slot in Cubism / how often the inspirations are footnoted and treated as secondary sources. Even if eventually some/all of the artists got over the "newness" of the "exotic other," that was some of the initial attraction to it (which isn't to say that being attracted to differences is wrong, but it's just a lot more complicated than the time/subject matter of the video really allows).

What an absolutely beautiful painting with it’s amazing colors and cast shadows. Great work to both the artist and the conservator!

A beautiful restoration, as always, but I'm rather disappointed in your thorough mischaracterization of Edward Said's book and central arguments.

@stephanieparker1250

2 ай бұрын

I do love watching Julian work, I’m a fan. However.. his arrogance and lack of art education peaks through once in awhile.

Came for the relaxing viewing, stayed for the hilarious passive-aggressive jabs at the previous restoration.

@matriz_83

7 ай бұрын

lol! I often imagine him in 1000 years, being reborn as restorator, swearing at his own doing! 😂

Well, that's not EXACTLY what Said wrote. SOMEBODY is being reductive here, and I don't think it's Said.

You have restored an exquisite painting back to what the painter painted. Thank you for sharing your talents with us. You are amazing!!😊

Julian, question, are you being critical of Said because he was critical of something you like and enjoy or you really believe what you said about “orientalist” artists. Or was it a quick jab at a Palestinian academic? Oriental” term itself is problematic and a term created from a white European view as well as “Orientalism”. What artists were from the regions that were painted within this group? None of them. They’re all white UK and European based artists. Orientalism will always be a white perspective of what they saw and chose to paint. Academics and art professionals have to face uncomfortable truths even when it’s about a subject matter they either love or have investment in.

I'll admit i did flinch slightly when the solvent splashed down on the back. I'm too used to seeing precision and care from Julian that it totally caught me off guard... a literal "ohhhh he IS human, he spills stuff too!!"

'Glasgow' is pronounced 'Glaz-go' not 'Glass-Cow'............Apart from the mispronunciation of my home town's name, I loved this wee video, stunning painting brought back to all it's reflective subject's glory ❤

This is such a beautiful painting, even in its damaged state. I can’t wait for it to be restored! 😊

I mean... that's such a misrepresentation of what Edward Saïd said it's ridiculous lol

Edward Said's thesis is not "whatever Westerners say about the ME is worthless and racist". You claim that his thesis is reductive and misplaced, yet you do exactly this to his book and theses which are much more nuanced...

if this portrait is as nuanced as you say, why do we not know the name of the sitter? often times, with portraits especially, you provide context with names, history, and sometimes even family history. your complete dismissal of said's analysis of orientalism, while at the same time exhibiting the exact phenomenon he was critiquing, is disappointing to say the least.

@demanshah2001

7 ай бұрын

This is a really good point I haven't seen brought up in the comments yet

@justkiddin84

5 ай бұрын

And there are also many sitters we know nothing about. Information is lost over the years. We are not sure who the Mona Lisa is for example.

Yep, this one is getting added to my “Baumgartner Fine Sleep Restoration” playlist.

I think this is one of your best yet. I find your retouching sections to be especially useful to me, in particular for painting styles like this that use a lot of mixing of slightly-different shades and textures.

Julian - thanks for the split screen during retouching - very interesting and informative - great idea!

A Monday meditation on art with Julian - a perfect start to the week!

stunningly beautiful painting, sensitively restored. Thanks for bringing us along.

A radical transformation doesn’t begin to describe the beauty you revealed, thank you for sharing.

I love the colors that are revealed in the restored painting - beautiful blues and pinks and yellows. And I am a sucker for strong sun and shadow…

The only time I've ever had issue with you Sir, it's Glaz-go not Glass-cow in Scotland. Wonderful video and work that is a lesson in not accepting second best. Regards from Scotland.

@The.Talent

7 ай бұрын

Also, it's Mel-bun, not Mel-borne. I grew up there.

Removal of the yellowed varnish is always my favorite part.

The before, and after comparison of this painting is like looking at the universe from a land-based telescope, and the webb telescope. The colors are so vivid and the image so clear,great job.

while i can appreciate your work, i do not agree with your commentary on Edward Said. Said's criticism of westerners' beliefs and stereotypes of asians focused on the issues and harm it brought to these peoples and their nations. westerners/colonizers spread the ideas that asians were weak, barbaric, irrational, and in need of saving in order to take control of their governments and use the people to their disposal. Edward Said's criticisms were not misplaced due to the impact it has had on asian people across the entire continent. Long ago this was an issue and it still is today. This misunderstanding of an activist's work is not necessary

@homieo54

7 ай бұрын

although i do not know the intention behind it, ostracizing a Palestinian activist during these times is not a good look.

The tacking is so satisfying 🥴 beautiful job

I wait as patiently as I can for new videos. I love watching what you do. Thanks you.

Something special about this painting. I just love it and Find it fascinating .I am amazed at the difference in colours now revealed following your restoration. Will definitely check out this artists other works .

I love watching these before bed. They're perfect for relaxing and calming the mind.

@kombatangel

7 ай бұрын

I regularly have trouble sleeping due to chronic anxiety. When I’m watching one of Julian’s videos, I’ll be nodding off before it’s finished! His voice is just so calming I relax enough to fall asleep :)

@Chantal_4107

6 ай бұрын

This particular video here has been the one that I fall asleep to every night, for a few weeks now, at 0.75% speed

After seeing some of the incredibly damaged paintings you have restored (pretty much miraculously), it’s amazing to see the huge difference your restoration makes in a painting that was minimally damaged. Your wizardry shines through regardless!

Another superb restoration done...of a beautiful portrait painted by a marvelous artist. Wonderful to see it come to life! Thank you.

Loved the mini history lesson, although I don't agree with your interpretation of Said's work, his criticism also leans towards commodification of the Oriental image, rather than just all discourse regarding the East through the Western eye being reductive, although he does talk about it too, his works also have a lot of (radical) nuance

@samlomb2093

7 ай бұрын

Yeah I think Julian is off on Said too

@Zveebo

7 ай бұрын

Yeah, there is plenty of legitimate criticism of Said, but Julian goes way too far here in dismissing him. Artists commodifying and fetishising North Africa and the Middle East (and its inhabitants) was absolutely a thing - even though that is not a reason to condemn all the art of that period.

@nicktecky55

7 ай бұрын

All art is a commodity, at least the 'good' stuff is. The artist produces the work, and is paid for it, that is how artists make their living. The same work of art may lie neglected, stay with the owner to be inherited, or sold through a few or multiple hands, in any event it is a commodity, it has a value. What on earth is a "Western Eye"?

@teemaaka288

7 ай бұрын

WOW, ALL THESE EXPERTS

@WinePunk

7 ай бұрын

@@nicktecky55A western eye is a view from a White European based perspective.

Who else grimaced at the utterance of the word "masonite"??

@ShellyS2060

7 ай бұрын

Almost as much as "staples"

@ytfeelslikenorthkorea

7 ай бұрын

:) masonite is not a good material for anything (hygroscopic, buckles when moisture content changes), maybe apart from the backing of cheapo-crappo IKEA furniture - the idea of attaching a PAINTING to it is baffling.

@loserplanet

7 ай бұрын

Haha yes. Especially since we use it in our house when doing trim work to cover textured drywall!

@azadalamiq

7 ай бұрын

@@ytfeelslikenorthkorea just googled it, even wiki ppl claim its good... :/ like shit is no better the cardboard.

@anna9072

7 ай бұрын

I CRINGED.

A life-saving treatment for this piece beautifully done. A contemplative ordinary man appreciated by a man of his time from a different part of the world.

Thank you for teaching us a little about the artist and showing us some of his other works.

Great job restoring this beautiful portrait 👍

All due respect, generalizing Said's work in such manner is reductive. Not all of his ideas were "misplaced". His thesis on orientalism does not just apply to art, it also includes other areas like literature, and there're substantive amount of literature written in that time by european authors about "the orient" that actually greatly benefit from being analyzed through his theory of orientalism. While I agree that we can't generalize every work of art that came out of this movement as being bad or racist, we can't also say in good conscious that they were all done respectfully. Off the top of my head, Jean Leon Gerome made a lot of questionable choices depicting praying men, for example having them face the wrong way, hold their hands in weird positions, and trying to pass off jibberish writing as arabic to name a few. not to mention countless paintings of Harems with overly sexualized, half-naked women when those women would neither be dressing in such way nor would these artists be allowed anywhere near the Harem. Again, I agree that we can't generalize every piece of art to come out of this period, but that goes both ways.

@renerpho

7 ай бұрын

Art painted during the colonial era doesn't get more or less beautiful by claiming that the artist was somehow more enlightened than his contemporaries. Isn't that a preposterous claim to make? I think it is possible to acknowledge that the artist felt genuine love for the people he painted, without concealing the problematic context of what he did. On the contrary, concealing that context is, as you say, reductive.

@Shae_Sandybanks

7 ай бұрын

💯

@GetOfflineGetGood

7 ай бұрын

Thinking of Gauguin and his many paintings of Tahitian women and also how he "married" and impregnated a 13 year old Tahitian girl and then left and never saw her or her child again. And then later "married" another Tahitian girl, this time who was 14, and then left her to raise his child on her own. And THEN "married" ANOTHER 14 year old Tahitian girl.

@aygulaliyeva8105

7 ай бұрын

@@renerpho i didn't speak to their aesthetic beauty tho, did i? my qualm was the way he presented Edward Said and his views on orientalism. nuance is a thing. we can recognize that these paintings were beautiful and done well, while also acknowledging their problematic nature in some instances. we are saying the same thing.

@aygulaliyeva8105

7 ай бұрын

@@GetOfflineGetGood don't forget he also had a wife and 5 kids which he left behind before he embarked on Tahiti.

Oh, my word, this portrait is sublime. How I envy the owner(s). They must have been ecstatic to see this result. Beautiful work.

Absolutely marvelous, thanks for sharing!! The conservation work is (as always) so fun to watch is breathes such life into the painting. And this may be my favorite portrait I've seen in a long time.

This is perhaps one of my favourite restorations you've undertaken. I can happily admit that I would love to acquire it in the unlikely event is for sale...

All I can say is that was a stunning transformation !!!

Exquisite transformation of an elegant portrait full of warm dreamy nuance.

WOW You left Europe And brought us all to a new place Beautiful trip Thanks and Congratulations.

Julian yet again I find myself relax and forget the world just watching the work you do, I almost feel as If I am standing over your shoulder watching it all. Wish I could be as I think to work on this type of art restoration in itself is wonderful. If the artists at the time never painted the people and times we would have lost so much of the wonders of the times gone by. Love it thank you xxxxxxx Dede xxx

This just made me realize that I have not seen alot of portraits of black and brown people being conserved.

@wildcat1227

7 ай бұрын

A video that talks about this a bit is "His name was Bélizaire." It was posted by the NYT (there is an article with the same title if you prefer to read about it.)

@TroyRubert

7 ай бұрын

I'm interested in why you think that is?

@canardbonbon

7 ай бұрын

In absolute or relative value?

@rosameltrozo5889

7 ай бұрын

Not many black or brown artists to make portraits of their own people to begin with...

@chucklingsparrows6522

7 ай бұрын

Maybe you haven't searched enough...although why you would says so much about you!

It always amazes me just how different the paintings looks once the grime and old varnish are removed. It reminds me of watching remastered tv shows, we are no longer looking at it though a haze or with gauze over our eyes that softened everything, we are seeing it in its full glory as meant.

The restauration made a huge different! Im always happy when you make another video.❤

It’s as though you turned on the sun. The light on this man’s wool is spectacular! Great work bringing it back!

wow, honestly one of my favourite portraits you've restored yet, simply stunning!

Such a luminous portrait, gorgeous light. 😍

I wave whenever I see Kit in the background! 😂 Also, I really love this painting. All the feels.

Were there ever any notable artists who might have approached their art with the expectation that their pieces would yellow, age or gain a patina? Who worked with that as a goal? Who might not have wanted, or specifically requested against, restoration efforts and maybe considered their works unfinished until they’ve aged?

@elax75

7 ай бұрын

hey i've been following this comment section for the whole orientalism controversy, but your comment is something that I have been wondering about ever since I started watching Julian's channel ! I'm no art historian so I can't answer the question, but it strikes me as a significant limitation to the argument that the initial state is the intended result (and that conservation aims at restoring the initial state) : obviously painters knew the effect of time on varnish and could theoretically factor that in. As far as contemporary art is concerned at least, there are indeed many artists working with passage of time as an integral part of the art work. For an extreme example :Michel Blazy, a French sculptor, has used orange peels decaying with time - it gets very gross tbh 🤣but yeah putrefaction, mold, insects become part of the work...

Ilove your work, but I have a bachelor's degree in International Relations, so it hurt very deeply to hear your very shallow interpretation of Edward Said's classic. I'm glad I'm not alone and many viewers felt so too and brought it to your attention. Please consider reading the book asap.

@lauraw3117

7 ай бұрын

Bachelors degree. 🤭 so you must know everything. To each their own I suppose.

@AnnieWayG3

6 ай бұрын

@@lauraw3117 No, I don't. That's why I recommended the book, duh. You must be overwhelmed by the idea of READING BOOKS, I guess.

Ok, I really love the sound of your voice, but at the end I was like come on Sir; show us the comparison already!!! Great painting and I enjoyed learning about the background of the painter.

So beautiful! Love the difference of the robe! It's almost glowing!

Question i just had. Are there any artists who actually wanted the varnish to yellow? Like they kept in mind how the varnish would change over time and made that a part of the work? And if so, what would be done in that situation?

@CToast

7 ай бұрын

I am a hobby painter of middling skill. When I was in school I painted a very brown and yellow painting and it was not "brown and yellow" enough for me at the time. The art teacher (insert stereotype of older hippie art teacher) looks at me and looks at the painting and asked "do you still smoke?". He pointed out that if I hung it in my home over my desk in more or less a decade it may be the colour I'm looking to achieve without further art-based tomfoolery. Now, almost 20 years later it is just the right shade of brown and yellow I was looking for at the time. I often wonder, watching these videos if I ever clean it, if I should just tint the varnish to get it back to this look. Julian is often talking about restoration as being a rewind to the state the artist intended. I am the artist. I intended this.

i love all your videos but this is such a bad faith interpretation of said's work. to say that western artists didn't fetishize or exoticize their subjects because they created beautiful paintings is so reductive and untrue. scores of orientalist artists engaged with their subjects and the middle east and north africa in ways that were dehumanizing and fetishistic. paintings like the snake charmer and the slave market should illuminate this for you. for another example, paul gauguin spent years painting women in tahiti while he was raping them - rendering them beautifully while denying them personhood. the fact that orientalist art was being created at the same time these places (algeria, tunisia, the levant, morocco, etc) were being colonized should give you a hint as to how european artists felt about the people and scenes they painted. there is no sense of equality or reciprocally in a colonial system, only exploitation. your attempt to depoliticize orientalism to make it more palatable only does yourself and your audience a disservice.

No one does it better. Painting is mesmerizing, beautiful.👏👏🤩🥇

I am thrilled! I love this videos. I learn so much every time. So interesting! So beautiful! Thanks for sharing your work and your passion with your viewers. ❤

This is absolutely the most gorgeous painting you've shown us. This is a real man from a fairly recent time, not fancy, speaking volumes. Bravo.

Thank you for showing the many paintings of Middle-Eastern subjects-those are truly lovely to the eye!

@NonoyaBiz-bx1pt

7 ай бұрын

It is a beautiful portrait, but more of a north african man, as Morocco is not in the middle east .🙌

@stvp68

7 ай бұрын

@@NonoyaBiz-bx1pt yes, but I was referring to the other paintings he showed earlier in the video