Sharjah Art Museum will host an exhibition showcasing the works of art by Orientalist artists.

The ‘Lure of the East: British Orientalist Painting 1830-1925’ exhibition will open tomorrow (February 18) under the patronage of Dr Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qassimi, Member of Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, and run until April 30.

Said to be the biggest exhibition of its kind in the Middle East region, Lure of the East is organised by Tate Britain in partnership with the British Council – UAE, the Pera Museum - Istanbul and the Sharjah Art Museum.

The touring exhibition was earlier held in the US, UK and Turkey.

“Lure of the East comes as part of Sharjah Museums Department’s vision to achieve locally and internationally a stronger understanding, appreciation and respect for Sharjah’s identity and its cultural heritage,” said Manal Ataya, director general, Sharjah Museums Department (SMD). “The exhibition is part of SMD’s efforts to establish the organisation as a premier socio-cultural entity and to maintain strategic partnerships with international institutions for promoting dialogue through art and culture.

“We are pleased to partner with Tate Britain and the British Council, UAE, the official organisation that strengthens the UK’s cultural relations with other countries. We believe that art plays a vital role in bridging the cultural gaps between different nations.”

“Several countries in the Middle East expressed interest in hosting the exhibition, but Sharjah seemed to us to provide an especially suitable context. Its cultural programs, museums and exhibitions are consistently impressive, and Dr Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qassimi, Member of Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, is personally an expert in the fields of 18th and 19th century history that lie at the heart of the exhibition’s subject matter,” said Stephen Deuchar, director, Tate Britain.

“The British Council is delighted to partner with the Sharjah Museums Department and Tate Britain in this stunning exhibition of British Orientalist paintings. The artwork constitutes an important artistic and historical record of cultural engagement between East and West in earlier centuries,” said Michel Bechara, director of projects, British Council, UAE.

Lure of the East is a showcase of works of art by Orientalist artists of international acclaim. The exhibition features paintings of the Orient by British artists ranging from the eighteenth to the nineteenth century.  Orientalist painting derived its subject matter from the diverse peoples and places of what the British called the Orient, an area that roughly corresponds to present-day Turkey, Syria, Iraq, the Arabian Peninsula, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and Algeria.

Bringing together over 85 masterpieces from collections around the world, Lure of the East will include major works by celebrated British painters such as William Holman Hunt, Richard Dadd, Lord Leighton, John Frederick Lewis and David Roberts. It will also bring together several rarely seen works from private collections.

Paintings from internationally renowned museums and institutions such as Tate, Yale Centre for British Art, Victoria and Albert Museum, Qatar Museums Authority, National Gallery of Scotland, Harris Museum and Art Gallery and the British Museum will also be exhibited at Lure of the East.

The Sharjah Museums Department, established in 2006 by Dr Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qassimi, Member of Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, aims to promote the emirate’s rich legacy of arts, heritage and culture. – TradeArabia News Service