Lure of the East – British Orientalist Painting focuses for the first time on British painters whose work engages with Middle Eastern themes. The painters represented in this exhibition travelled to places in the European Mediterranean (excluding Persia and Afghanistan), which were then relatively accessible, during a period from the 18th century until the eclipse of the Ottoman Empire in 1922. The focus is upon oil paintings and works on paper which are, or purport to be, the result of direct personal observation of actual places. Explicitly historical and biblical subjects are not included.

On a wider scale the exhibition is about the role of the painted image in forming the visual component of Orientalism in British culture, hence, the pictures are about Britain as much as they are about the Middle East. At the same time they highlight the successes and failures of the traditions of European art when faced with a non-European subject.

The exhibition includes rarely seen works by John Frederick Lewis, Edward Lear, David Wilkie, Richard Dadd, Lord Leighton, and William Holman Hunt, amongst others.

Lure of the East - British Orientalist Painting is at Tate Britain until 31 August 2008 and will then tour to Turkey and United Arab Emirates:

Pera Museum in Istanbul, Turkey 26th September 2008 – 4th January 2009

Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah, UAE February – May 2009