This fall the British Museum will host “Inspired by the East,” a special exhibition that will explore how western artists have long been inspired by the Islamic world. Opening in October, the exhibition will cover five centuries of artistic work.
Islamic art at the British Museum
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‘Les Femmes du Maroc’
This triptych by contemporary Moroccan photographer and painter Lalla Essaydi is part of her “Les Femmes du Maroc,” in which she revisits her past, being born in Morocco and living Saudi Arabia for many years.
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‘The Great Umayyad Mosque’
This oil-on-canvas piece was painted by 19th-century German artist Carl Wuttke. Born in 1849. Wuttke specialized in landscape and architectural painting, with several artworks now reaching up to $50,000 in auctions.
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‘Sultan Bayezid I’
Dated 1580, this portrait by the Veronese school depicts the fourth ruler of the Ottoman Empire wearing a large turban and intricate cloak embroidery.
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'The Prayer’
This painting by American artist Frederick Arthur Bridgman shows two men praying. Alabama-born Bridgman, who died in 1928, was known for his Orientalist subjects.
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Mosque lamp
This gilt and enameled glass mosque lamp, dated 1877, was created by French craftsman Philippe-Joseph Brocard, who mastered the Islamic tradition of glass-making during his career.
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‘The Princess’
Created by French British illustrator Edmund Dulac in 1914, this painting shows a girl and monster-like creature in a fight. Dulac, who died in 1953, was born in France where he initially studied law, but later switched to art school.