Western Gentleman in Oriental Costume
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
approx. 6 x 9 in. (15.2 x 22.9 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Department
European Paintings
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Kenneth Jay Lane, 2017
Accession Number
2017.202.5
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the European Paintings department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art *Western Gentleman in Oriental Costume captivates with its intimate scale—measuring just 6 x 9 inches—and oil-on-canvas medium, ideal for detailed portraiture. This small-scale work, gifted by Kenneth Jay Lane in 2017, depicts a British man adorned in elaborate Oriental attire, blending European portrait traditions with exotic fantasy. The painting embodies 18th- or 19th-century Orientalism, a movement where Western artists romanticized Eastern cultures, often through costumes inspired by Turkey, Persia, or India. Such por...