THE INSECURITY OF WESTERN SCHOLARSHIP ABOUT ISLAMIC ART OBSESSED WITH TRYING TO PROVE EUROPEAN ART INSPIRATION – AND YET WESTERN PAINTERS THEMSELVES SUCCUMBED TO AURA OF MUSLIM ARTISTS FROM REMBRANDT TO STREET PAINTERS
THE INSECURITY OF WESTERN SCHOLARSHIP ABOUT ISLAMIC ART OBSESSED WITH TRYING TO PROVE EUROPEAN ART INSPIRATION
AND YET WESTERN PAINTERS THEMSELVES SUCCUMBED TO AURA OF MUSLIM ARTISTS FROM REMBRANDT TO STREET PAINTERS
Venetian artist Gentile Bellini 15th centuryTurk painter by Gentile BelliniRembrandt
There is an inevitable jealousy surrounding the analysis of Western art analysts about Muslim Art. For them Western painters are supreme and the history of art starts from their domain. For centuries Chinese art, Japanese art debunked in different ways, but Indo-Pakistani art debunked most at the hands of chauvinistic art historians. Yes, there were great scholars in the Western background, but the present hierarchy of same are oblivious of achievements of regional painters. Everything has a western connotations for them.
Emperor Jahangeer by RembrandtChess playersDe Laet Journal 1631
Islamic art inspired many Western artists. Masters like Rembrandt and Bellini were struck by the beauty of Islamic art. But even ordinary things saw this effect in place. You see various western paintings with Islamic carpets in them, Islamic naqashi in their background and architecture being influenced by same too. The greatest effect we see in design of churches as well as aesthetics of bibles. We talk more about that later. Till then stop this charade of cultural hegemony. Chauvinism of inspiration taken too literally. We were not far behind but ahead at many places.
Gospel in Islamic tradition4 recto – Arrest of ChristIslamic influencesMadonna in Islamic perspectiveWestern interpretations Turkish imagesPrayer bookShah Jahan by Rembrandtroshan ara_ferrario1Islamic carpets in Western artIslamic carpets
2 thoughts on “THE INSECURITY OF WESTERN SCHOLARSHIP ABOUT ISLAMIC ART OBSESSED WITH TRYING TO PROVE EUROPEAN ART INSPIRATION – AND YET WESTERN PAINTERS THEMSELVES SUCCUMBED TO AURA OF MUSLIM ARTISTS FROM REMBRANDT TO STREET PAINTERS”
Jealousy of our civilization.
Islamic inspiration not only in painting but more in architecture itself.