Gulnare: The Persian Slave c. 19th century

Editor: This is Paul Gavarni's "Gulnare: The Persian Slave". It's a striking lithograph. The woman's direct gaze makes me wonder, what does the image tell us about the exoticization of labor and its representation? Curator: It reveals much about the 19th-century appetite for Orientalism and its commodification. Consider the means of production: lithography, a method of mass production, is used to disseminate this image of a "slave." Editor: So, the print itself becomes a commodity, furthering the cycle? Curator: Precisely. The image's availability and consumption reinforce Western fantasies and power dynamics. The knife in her hand, part of the composition, feeds into it. Editor: I hadn't considered how the printing process itself plays into the narrative. Thanks for pointing that out!