1841
The British Museum
London, United Kingdom
This Armenian girl from Bursa (Turkey) was painted by the British painter John Frederick Lewis. The European public often became “acquainted” with the lives of Middle Eastern women through such works, filtering reality through the eye and tastes of the artists.
1844 (painted) 1845 (exhibited)
Victoria and Albert Museum
London, United Kingdom
In the 19th century UK, women’s work was often an economic necessity, but could also promise autonomy, financial independence and self-realisation. Governesses were among those often able to improve their lot, a fact echoed in European literature, perhaps most famously in a masterpiece of English literature, Charlotte Brontë’s novel Jane Eyre (1847).
Souvenirs d’Egypte; Femme Fellah
1851 (published)
Victoria and Albert Museum
London, United Kingdom
Artist travellers to the Orient brought back numerous sketches of peoples’ lives, often to be transformed later into impressive paintings. Works like this one tried to give an account of costumes, scenes of life and women’s work as seen through the European artists’ gaze. Such depictions were not always sympathetic or indeed accurate.
Souvenirs d’Egypte; Femme Fellah du Caire
1851 (published)
Victoria and Albert Museum
London, United Kingdom
Artist travellers to the Orient brought back numerous sketches of peoples’ lives, often to be transformed later into impressive paintings. Works like this one tried to give an account of costumes, scenes of life and women’s work as seen through the European artists’ gaze. Such depictions were not always sympathetic or indeed accurate.
1869
Victoria and Albert Museum
London, United Kingdom
Western travellers in the Arab and Ottoman world often sought out scenes of daily life involving women. The way Europeans imagined the position of women in Arab and Ottoman society, deduced not least from the way they dressed, was fed by often fanciful, romanticised and inaccurate accounts from travellers or the photographs they brought back.
1890-1895
National Library of France
Paris, France
Western travellers in the Arab and Ottoman world often sought out scenes of daily life involving women. The way Europeans imagined the position of women in Arab and Ottoman society, deduced not least from the way they dressed, was fed by often fanciful, romanticised and inaccurate accounts from travellers or the photographs they brought back.
1890-1895
National Library of France
Paris, France
Western travellers in the Arab and Ottoman world often sought out scenes of daily life involving women. The way Europeans imagined the position of women in Arab and Ottoman society, deduced not least from the way they dressed, was fed by often fanciful, romanticised and inaccurate accounts from travellers or the photographs they brought back.
1890-1895
National Library of France
Paris, France
Western travellers in the Arab and Ottoman world often sought out scenes of daily life involving women. The way Europeans imagined the position of women in Arab and Ottoman society, deduced not least from the way they dressed, was fed by often fanciful, romanticised and inaccurate accounts from travellers or the photographs they brought back.
1895
National Library of France
Paris, France
Western travellers in the Arab and Ottoman world often sought out scenes of daily life involving women. The way Europeans imagined the position of women in Arab and Ottoman society, deduced not least from the way they dressed, was fed by often fanciful, romanticised and inaccurate accounts from travellers or the photographs they brought back.
1896
National Gallery of Modern Art (GNAM)
Rome, Italy
The right of European women to access the same literature as men in the 19th century was difficult to achieve. Reading was considered to be dangerous in some cases.
Beginning of the 20th century
Central Institute for Ethno-Anthropology, National Museum of Arts and Popular Traditions
Rome, Italy
In the 19th century, the role of women in the family and in society was still very often seen in a very traditional manner in Europe.
Women going about their daily life
Early 20th century
Institut Supérieur d’Histoire Contemporaine de la Tunisie
Tunis, Tunisia
Western travellers in the Arab and Ottoman world often sought out scenes of daily life involving women. The way Europeans imagined the position of women in Arab and Ottoman society, deduced not least from the way they dressed, was fed by often fanciful, romanticised and inaccurate accounts from travellers or the photographs they brought back.
1915–18
Central State Archives of Italy
Rome, Italy
World War I gave European women the chance to prove that they could occupy the positions traditionally occupied by men.
1915–18
Central State Archives of Italy
Rome, Italy
World War I gave European women the chance to prove that they could occupy the positions traditionally occupied by men.
1920
National Library of France
Paris, France
Western travellers in the Arab and Ottoman world often sought out scenes of daily life involving women. The way Europeans imagined the position of women in Arab and Ottoman society, deduced not least from the way they dressed, was fed by often fanciful, romanticised and inaccurate accounts from travellers or the photographs they brought back.
1920
National Library of France
Paris, France
Western travellers in the Arab and Ottoman world often sought out scenes of daily life involving women. The way Europeans imagined the position of women in Arab and Ottoman society, deduced not least from the way they dressed, was fed by often fanciful, romanticised and inaccurate accounts from travellers or the photographs they brought back.
1920
National Library of France
Paris, France
Western travellers in the Arab and Ottoman world often sought out scenes of daily life involving women. The way Europeans imagined the position of women in Arab and Ottoman society, deduced not least from the way they dressed, was fed by often fanciful, romanticised and inaccurate accounts from travellers or the photographs they brought back.