What is going on with the onlookers?! Why are they there?
In a word: orientalism. This art movement was predicated on the exoticism and “othering” of subject matter and the bystanders serve as a proxy for the audience of the art itself.
Welcome! I should have linked the wiki but here you go: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orientalism
Edward Said’s Orientalism is a real slog to read, but definitely the foundational academic work on this, if your interest is piqued.
Orientalism wasn’t an art movement, the picture is in “academic” style.
IMO your interpretation can be put in a more straightforward/blunt way: the painting is basically pornography built upon cheap cultural stereotypes. (And it really is bizarre that this sort of garbage art gets upvoted to much, simply because it has an air of refinement around itself that excuses its clearly pornographic character.)
And it really is bizarre that this sort of garbage art gets upvoted to much, simply because it has an air of refinement around itself that excuses its clearly pornographic character.
Maybe we’re just upvoting it because we enjoy pornography…lol.
This is sad. It’s basically a figure study in 4 parts. Go back and slap whomever you paid for your degree.
