American Decorative Arts

Paper Summary:

This paper begins with a look at what sparked the great interest in Orientalism beginning with the 19th century and continuing until the 1930s. The paper also describes the influence that Orientalism had on American tastes in decorative arts and explains that this interest in Orientalism was no doubt encouraged by the opening of the Suez Canal which had the effect of providing artists with abundant and seductive new motifs for their work.

From the Paper:

"Although Bonaparte had had the idea years earlier, it was in 1854 that the French diplomat, Ferdinand de Lesseps persuaded the Viceroy Said of Egypt to grant him the concession to cut a 100-mile long canal across the isthmus of the Suez. DeLesseps had cultivated the Viceroy Said even when the Viceroy was a young man and De Lesseps was the French ambassador to the Egyptian court" (African Business 2003, p. 64). "The creation of the Suez Canal captured the imagination of people around the world, and its opening in 1869 was a party to end all parties. As the champagne flowed, it was hailed as a symbol of progress that would serve to unite the world. You might even call it one of the first adventures in globalization-an infrastructure project designed to strengthen links between Europe, East Africa, the Middle East and the Orient" (African Business 2003, p. 64). In hindsight, of course, it did not work out as the great peace- and commerce-maker some may have had in mind."

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