"The Turkish Bath"

Paper Summary:

Analysis of the Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres oil painting. Discusses the title and content of the 1859 painting, and its revision in 1863. Representation of women. Frankness of the artist's expression; sexual fantasy. Implied message of painting regarding French colonialism. Art historian Walter Friendlaender's account of the painting. John Berger's "Way of Seeing."

From the Paper:

"John Berger's Ways of Seeing makes many suggestions about how to look at works from the great period of Western oil painting (1500-1900). He argues that the traditional ways in which art history looked at painting involved a great deal of mystification, that is, "the process of explaining away what might otherwise be evident" (Berger 15-16). In Berger's view mystification involves explanations of the meanings of pictures, the reasons why they were painted, and what they meant to the painters and the owners. Analyses that mystify cover up certain aspects of this art; specifically those related to domination--domination of women by men, of the weak by the powerful, and of the not-rich by the rich. A closer look at one picture demonstrates how careful interrogation of what is in front of the viewer brings out information and possible meanings that are not ..."

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