Orientalism

Orientalism is a term that represents the Western depiction of Middle Eastern people and culture through emphasizing and exaggerating -or "distorting"- of Arab cultures. Reaching a climax in the 18th century when Europe's colonial imperialization was in full swing, paintings, and accounts from the Western world increasingly altered the reality of the "Orient" or Arab World (which includes present-day Turkey, Greece, the Middle East, and North Africa).

 French Paintings: Orientalism is most often depicted in paintings. Europeans such as Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch) and Antoine Jean Gros (French) are just a few famous examples. They depict the Arab world as a mysterious place, full of sand, belly dancers and harems, all of which add on to the "exotic" portrayal of these societies which was often not the case -the interesting thing to note? Many, if not all, Western painters never visited the East, only adding to the inaccuracy of these scenes. Up above is "Napoleon in the Plague House at Jaffa" a painting from 1804 by Antoine Jean Gros himself. It was meant as a propaganda piece in favor of French imperialism, depicting the French general's (Napoleon) affiliation with "plague-afflicted prisoners" during the siege in Jaffa by touching an inmate. It stills holds the mosque and minaret in the background, confirming the Middle Eastern origins, but pictures an Arab man in oriental dress.
Source: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/euor/hd_euor.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonaparte_Visiting_the_Plague_Victims_of_Jaffa

Romanticized Orientalism: During this time period the Romanticism Movement was increasing in France and Great Britain. As we know that Romanticism was meant to emphasize extremes in power, explicitness and emotional intensity, it shouldn't come as a shock that painters explored these ideals through depictions of violence and cruelty in Oriental settings and subjects. Orientalism has most often been known to credit the Arab world as "exotic, backward, uncivilized, and at times dangerous" as to rationalize imperialism and the need for the people to be saved. This was often associated with hypersexualition as can be seen above in Death of Sardanapalus. The image pictures the last king of Assyria and his military defeat: the naked women are either subject to death or pleading to the king (who's power is emphasized as he sits above them all), and the dramatic imagery through color and the burning city only provokes fear. While Orientalism is depicted, it should be remembered that many of these Western paintings also identified current conflicts occurring in the name of imperialism.
Source: http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/death-sardanapalus
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/euor/hd_euor.htm

Harem Scenes: Arab women were and still are major parts of Orientalism. Up above is just one of many examples (once again, a painting) of women, most likely in a harem in states of undress, depicted with "voluptuous bodies." In these scenes they are most often accompanied by servants or various entertainers. This is just one form of Westerners exaggerating Middle Eastern women's sexuality especially because the said subjects above are in a private bathroom, or hammam which only confirms people's curiosities (especially men) of women in these private settings. It also portrays the aesthetic of pampered isolation that many European women "aspired to."
Source:  http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/26.158.3/

The Turkish Bath: Painted by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingre, this painting is another example of depicted harems. Once again the male imagination dominated to define these private places as opulent and filled with beautiful naked women lounging around. It's interesting that this painting is also an excellent example of a technique of giving Western features to these Turkish women; female slaves and concubines are also favorite depictions in Orientalist subjects. Up above, many women have just exited from their bath, chatting, playing instruments and hanging around. It was actually painted for Napoleon and was inspired by another artist portraying similar harem scenes.
Source: www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/euor/hd_euor.htm
http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/turkish-bath

 Belly Dancers: Belly dancing was a type of Orientalism that further exaggerated Middle Eastern women and caused imitation throughout the West. This form of culture is considered, along with the erotic harem scenes, cultural mythology of Arab and Muslim women. Belly dancing once again portrays women as exotic and "sexually available", existing only to please the male population. On the other hand, it also proves that Western imagination believed that the veil was a sign of oppression and male invitation. By painting scenes such as the one above in Preparing for the Performance by Edouard Frederic Wilhelm Richter, Europeans left the message that they were "liberating" these women. In reality, the veil is a sign of their culture and belly dancing is inaccurate.
Source: http://www.arabstereotypes.org/why-stereotypes/what-orientalism/veils-harems-belly-dancers

Modern Orientalism: Orientalism is still a very real thing today. Jasmine is just another real example of how much our past has influenced our ideal views of societies we're not familiar with. Media has become another factor of depicting Middle Eastern women as belly dancers, with the dress, the extreme curves of the body, the Western features emphasized by the darkening of the hair and makeup, and the saris (earrings). Jasmine pictures women of color as insubordinate to men as well as theme that women were meant for male pleasure. While Jasmine might've been a childhood idol to us, she also represents the mask that Westerners hid behind to defend against their extreme violence and slavery associated with imperialism during the 18th century.
Source: http://hampshirefeministcollective.co.uk/2013/08/03/the-legacies-of-orientalism-and-the-exoticizing-of-women/

Orientalism in War Scenes: Orientalism went as far as glorifying war. While these images were mostly painted by people who had actually visited and experienced the Middle East, they still show signs of orientalism depicting military life. Up above the artist, Jean-Léon Gérôme, painted a young man who is supposed to represent Turkish soldiers, unpaid I might add, who "fought for plunder under Ottoman Empire leadership." Little would we know that the subject above is a dressed model in Gérôme's art studio wearing Oriental textiles that he came about during one of his military expeditions. This was not uncommon for painters to do in order to depict some of these famous paintings. Nor was it uncommon for Middle Eastern people, whether they be male or female, to be shown wearing exquisite textiles as silk tunic worn above to maintain glorification of the Western imagination.
Source: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/2008.547.1/
www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/euor/hd_euor.htm

Religious Orientalism: Above, in The Finding of the Saviour in the Temple, Christianity is set against a backdrop of a Near Eastern setting. While the artist traveled to the Middle East himself and used locals as models for this painting, as well as it symbolizes Orientalism through textiles of the work, it's also one of the few accurate pieces of its time. The painter, William Holman Hunt, meant for it to be ethnographically correct (accurate in the customs of individual people and customs). It's portrayal of Bibilical symbols could be considered a portrayal of the impact of Christianity through European imperialism at the time (even though this image was only a model).
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Finding_of_the_Saviour_in_the_Temple
www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/euor/hd_euor.htm

Orientalism in Textiles: Scenes of naked women in harems wasn't the only thing that fueled Western minds. The idea of Orientalism also manifested itself in luxury items, especially textiles that were used to create the dress above. These exotic patterns were often sought after by European elites who collected them for aesthetic purposes of beauty and themselves being considerably pieces of artwork. Up above is a French imitation of Indian textiles, the pattern believed to have come from Chinese work. While the Western imagination saw this as exotic and "Oriental" this was not necessarily the case. Many of these pieces were designed with the idea of "sweetness" and "seductiveness" behind them though many dressing options in the Middle East were assimilated according to culture -nonetheless Europeans followed everything from silk, to wearing shawls and kimonos during the 17th and 18th centuries.
Source: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/orie/hd_orie.htm

Orientalism in luxury objects: Once again, the beautiful colors and patterns on this box don't fail to imitate what Westerner's believed to be "Oriental" patterns and colors to seem more exotic and expensive. Trade with these societies since the 17th century only increased the European motifs. Many people enjoyed obtaining objects such as these because they were considered uncorrupted by industrialization, with "a barbaric splendour" to them (though the Middle East were very well cultured and most of these items were imitated in European factories, not at all separate from industrialism). For example, up above, the box is believed to have been based off of a Persian pattern with the flowers and foliage and the bright reds, greens and blues. The enamel was also inspired by Japanese works.
Source: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/2002.258/