The Easel

23rd June 2026

Did we all get Orientalism wrong?

Ariella Budick | Financial Times | 20th June 2026

Orientalist art, painted by Europeans, has been scorned as colonialist fantasy. That’s true, but this type of art was just part of a complex two-way exchange between cultures. An acclaimed portrait by the French artist Gérôme portrays an Ottoman soldier with great respect. And Hamdi, the Ottoman artist, borrowed his theatrical stagings and architectural renderings straight from Paris. There was “a much richer and more human concoction than postcolonial polemics would suggest.“

What’s the Matter With Museums?

Daniel Grant | Observer | 19th June 2026

Can more art become too much art? It might if it requires a new museum. The US has about 35,000 museums, a number that has doubled since 1990. Local communities are now opposing new projects – especially so-called “vanity projects” – citing an absence of any public facilities, loss of public space or absorption of scarce public funds. Says one consultant “I’ve never known a community that was asking for a bigger museum. But many donors and collectors do,”

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