Orientalisms in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collections

Continuing with its 20th Anniversary celebrations, the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza (Madrid, Spain) has inaugurated the third edition of its exhibition series <exchanging gazes>. This series focuses on works in the Museum’s Permanent Collection with the aim of encouraging a reflective and considered viewpoint that gives rise to new interpretationsof the works on display.

Entitled Orientalisms in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collections, this installation - located in the first floor balcony-gallery with direct access from the Main Hall and free entry – focuses on the various ways that artists have represented the Orient and the concept of the exotic.

Through a selection of eight works by artists including Eugène Delacroix, Antonio Guardi, William Merritt Chase and August Macke visitors will encounter an Orient of undefined and at times imaginary boundaries and one that responds to both the need for new sources of inspiration and to the attraction of the exotic as something different and strange. While in the 18th century the influence of the Orient largely centred on the decorative arts, painting reveals the association that arose between the East and luxury and splendour. Scene in the Garden of a Seraglio (ca.1743) by Antonio Guardi, which is one of a series by the artist on the court at Constantinople, is a good example of this interest.

Date: through November 11.
Location: Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Paseo del Prado 8, Madrid. Spain.
Opening hours: from Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 7pm. Saturday from 10am to 10pm.