Osman Hamdi Bey (Turkish, 1842–1910), Girl Having Her Hair Combed
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I posted another Hamdi painting ("Bey" is an honorific, not a name) yesterday; that painting was accompanied in the Bonhams auction catalog by a very good (long) essay about Osman Hamdi Bey. As that essay explains, there is a misconception in the West that a "harem" was occupied by concubines or that the word applied to a group of concubines, but actually the word means a place of seclusion within the household where the family, especially the women, went about their daily tasks.
From the Bonhams website:
The kaleidoscopic nature of Osman Hamdi's biography—he was, at various times, a bureaucrat, archaeologist, museum director, architect, poet, writer, and musician—and his prominent position in both late 19th century French and Ottoman intellectual circles have made him a controversial symbol of Turkish nationalism and cultural reform in recent years. In his capacity as an Orientalist painter, moreover, he has long been considered a curiosity within the genre. Too Turkish for some, too French for others, Osman Hamdi and his works have been framed by the politics of these debates. Singled out for particular attention have been the artist's harem pictures, featuring one or more women engaged in their daily indoor and outdoor pursuits. Interpreted as both pointed commentaries on misconceptions about the harem institution in the West and dependable documents from an "insider" from the East, the actual details of these compositions have often been ignored. (Read more at link below)
From the Bonhams website:
The kaleidoscopic nature of Osman Hamdi's biography—he was, at various times, a bureaucrat, archaeologist, museum director, architect, poet, writer, and musician—and his prominent position in both late 19th century French and Ottoman intellectual circles have made him a controversial symbol of Turkish nationalism and cultural reform in recent years. In his capacity as an Orientalist painter, moreover, he has long been considered a curiosity within the genre. Too Turkish for some, too French for others, Osman Hamdi and his works have been framed by the politics of these debates. Singled out for particular attention have been the artist's harem pictures, featuring one or more women engaged in their daily indoor and outdoor pursuits. Interpreted as both pointed commentaries on misconceptions about the harem institution in the West and dependable documents from an "insider" from the East, the actual details of these compositions have often been ignored. (Read more at link below)
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