Orientalist school; first half of the 19th century.

Orientalist school; first half of the 19th century.
"Arab musicians".
Graphite and wax on paper.
Measurements: 16 x 22,5 cm.
The orientalism arises in the 19th century as an expression of the romantic spirit that sought to escape to distant worlds. Its first artists tried to capture an imagined Orient, almost mythical, reconstructed with detail but idealized. Over time, especially from the second half of the 19th century, many painters who traveled to the Near East discovered a different reality: a living, everyday territory far removed from European clichés. This new look left behind odalisques and harems to focus on authentic scenes of everyday life. The technique also changed: painting became looser and more luminous, adopting a sensibility close to impressionism and privileging the atmosphere and the real identity of the North African populations.