Welcome to Academy of Traditional Arts

We are pleased to announce a new 4-week course ‘Islamic Art Through the Eyes of Orientalists’, that will trace both the art history of the Islamic World and the alternating fortunes of the European and North American Orientalist painters. Inspired by the British Museum’s new exhibition entitled ‘Inspired by the East’, the course will examine the impact Islamic art and cultural interactions with the East, has had on culture and art in the West. We will examine the artistic production of famous Orientalist painters including David Roberts, John Frederick Lewis, Frederick Arthur Bridgman, Carl Wuttke and Étienne Dinet, as well as some of the most renowned drawings and paintings artists such as Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony Van Dick and Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, who were fascinated by the Muslim World and the portrayal of people engaged in daily activities. By looking at their work, we will have an insight into Islamic architecture, focusing for instance on the Kutubiyya Mosque in Marrakech, The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, the Great Umayyad Mosque of Damascus and the Alhambra in Granada, among the others. We will also analyse Iznik pottery, the use of tiles in architectural decoration, carpets and textiles production. We will complete the course considering whether and to what extent Orientalism has impacted the practice of contemporary Arab artists. There will be an optional tour of the ‘Inspired by the East’ exhibition at the British Museum, led by co-curator Julia Tugwell. Dates TBC. Image: Orientalist Interior, 1900, by Frederick Arthur Bridgman (1847-1928) (from Wiki Commons)