L’embouchure Du Bosphore 1880 - 1900

Félix Ziem painted this oil on wood panel, titled ‘L’embouchure Du Bosphore’, in the mid-19th century. The painting reflects the fashion for Orientalism, when European artists looked to the East for inspiration. It pictures the Bosphorus, the strait of land that separates Europe from Asia. The scene presents an image of leisure: a long rowing boat drifts on the water, and figures stroll along the banks. In its time, this would have brought to mind the grand tour. The art world of 19th-century Europe was deeply implicated in colonial power structures. Many artists travelled to other countries and created scenes that confirmed a sense of European privilege. Ziem’s paintings are a product of that social context. To understand this work better, historians might want to research how tourism and trade routes affected the places represented in Orientalist paintings.