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Au Bonheur des Amateurs: Collecting and Exhibiting , ca. 1880-1910 Author(s): David J. Roxburgh Reviewed work(s): Source: Ars Orientalis, Vol. 30, Exhibiting the Middle East: Collections and Perceptions of Islamic Art (2000), pp. 9-38 Published by: Freer Gallery of Art, The Smithsonian Institution and Department of the History of Art, University of Michigan Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4434260 . Accessed: 01/03/2013 09:14

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Au Bonheur des Amateurs:

Collecting and Exhibiting

Islamic Art, ca. 1880-1910

ABSTRACT

Temporaryexhibitions of Islamicart in Paris,Stockholm, Algiers, and Munich (ca. 1880-1910) are studied through catalogues, photographicrecords, and reviews. The history of earlyexhibi- tions is tracedby analyzingsocial and economic forces, princi- pallythe agencyof the collector,who definedaesthetic values and techniquesof displayprimarily in domesticspaces. The amateur's social valueswere translatedto the public sphere throughmeth- ods of display.Despite the amateur'seffort to maintainsocial dis- tinctionin the face of a growingmarket, the very featuresof dis- play-densely packedobjects arranged in seemingdisarray-that the amateurhad used at home were appropriatedin commercial venues such as the departmentstore. New techniquesof installa- tion, derivedfrom the Secession,were used in Munichin 1910 to free objectsfrom the connotationsof Orientalism.Although such techniques attractedscathing criticism, especially from French circles,they would becomethe mode of choice in futuremuseums.

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Ars Orientalis,volume XXX (2000)

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No sooner had they passed the door than they used to say that on leaving the shop the customer's were greetedwith a surprise,a marvelwhich en- eyes should ache."3By placing commoditieswithin rapturedthem all. It had been Mouret'sidea. He reach of eye and hand in stunningand beguilingar- had recentlybeen the first to buy in the Levant, raysand by democratizingluxury, Mouretensnared at very favorableterms, a collection of antique the buying public, causinghavoc at home as desire and moderncarpets, of rarecarpets such as until stretchedthe family'sfinancial means to theirlimit.4 thenhad onlybeen sold by antque dealersat very In his carpetdisplay, Mouretsets a trapfor the high prices; and he was going to flood the mar- connoisseurand widens his buyingaudience by put- ket with them, he was letting them go almostat ting the "Islamic"carpet, until then a commodity cost price, was simply using them as a splendid defined by elite taste, within reach of a broadercli- settingwhich would attractart connoisseurs (la entele.The displayplayed off artfully arranged pieces hauteclientle de l'art)to his shop. Fromthe cen- againstheaps of cheaperrugs, combined them with tre of Place Gaillonone could catcha glimpseof furniture, and brought together products in the this orientalhall, made entirely of carpets and "pasha'stent" from regions of the Islamicworld. The door-curtains,which the porters had hung up fiction of authenticityestablished through the cre- under his direction.... aton of an imaginarycontext-an evanescentdomes- This sumptuouspasha's tent was furnished tic setting in the store5-and origin-textiles culled with arm-chairsand divans made from camel- from ,, and palace-augmented the bags, some scatteredwith designs of multi-col- valueof new rugsas they appearedalongside the old. ored lozenges, otherscovered with artlessroses. Their historycould be smelled.Odors fromthe wool Turkey, Arabia, Persia, the Indies were there. wafted through the air as an inescapable olfactory Palaceshad been emptied, and patina. Amid this dense accumulation,specimens rifled.... Visions of the Orientfloated beneath fromevery region of the Islamicworld could be seen, the luxuryof this barbaricart, in the midst of the perused, and purchased. strong odour which the old wools had retained Au Bonheurdes Dames may appeara strangebe- fromlands of verminand sun. ginning to an essay about early collecting and exhi- -Emile Zola,Au Bonheurdes Dames (1882)1 bition of Islamic art, but the novel does highlight numerousand significantissues for the historyof art, Z7 0 LA' S NOVEL, fromwhich this passage was particularlyaspects of exhibitionpractice. Foremost taken,centers on a fictitiousParisian depart- among these aspects is the method employed for ment store namedAu Bonheurdes Dames.2 showing objects and their psychologicalimpact on The novel's strikinghuman interest derives in large an audience.The second is the permeabilityof those measurefrom the massive social changes that it de- techniques as they were applied to the contextual- scribes.Indeed, its recurringdescriptions of minutely izationof objects-and the relationsamong objects- observedstore displays are of equalinterest and form in a varietyof viewing contexts, which were subject an intriguingcommentary on contemporarytech- to constantchange. Contexts and installationsmade niques of retaildisplay. Elsewhere in his novel, Zola differentclaims for their objects;the spaces and en- introducesOctave Mouret, "revolutionary window- sembles of display possessed potentially multiple dresser... who had foundedthe school of the brutal resonancesand associationsfor the viewer-for ex- and giganticin the art of display."For a display of ample,the retailcontext of the departmentstore and silk textiles, Mouret"wanted avalanches, seemingly the universalexposition. The third aspect concerns fallenat randomfrom disembowelled shelves"; "He the status or significanceaccorded to objects from the Islamicworld, which might be reduced to the FIG. 1. Orientalroom, at thehome ofAlbert Goupil, 7 political,historical, monetary, and aesthetic,and to rue Chaptal,Paris, before1888. Photo:Imprimerie de ongoingdistinctions among categories of object(fine l'Art,Paris, 1888. AfterCatalogue des Objetsd'Art art, applied/industrialart, decorativeart, ethnogra- 11 de l'Orient. phy/curio).6That Islamic art objects were admired

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by manycannot be denied. In fact,a recurringtheme is often found in contemporarytrade magazines like in the emergingdiscourse on Islamicart at the time TheStore Window(issued from 1897). A retrospec- was the arttradition's curative power for the modern tive analysisis furthercomplicated by criticalvari- Europeanfine and industrialarts.7 But Islamicart ob- ables, such as the artmarket's quickly changing sup- jects also representeda past glory,relics of a now di- port structure,'4and by debates over aestheticsand minishedand corrupted"Oriental" culture.8 Distinc- artisticpractices. The bulk of theorizedexhibition tionsbetween substandard contemporary production debate was generated by individual artists, artists' and the superiorproducts of the past only acquireda groups, and the growing and evolving class of pro- sharperfocus as the centurydrew to its end. Viewing fessional critics, who considered themselvesmem- contextsand installationslinked to privatecollecting bers or representativesof the vanguard,creative fig- and to the expansionof Islamiccollections in state- ures opposed for one or anotherreason to the offi- sponsoredmuseums worked togetherto define "Is- cial salons and who called for independentexhibi- lamic"art9 and ultimatelyled to the arttradition's in- tions.'5The implicationsof such debates (and their stitutionalizatonin the universityand museum. resolution) for the display of objects from another This essayfocuses on collectionsand temporary time and place-especially objects that were only exhibitions of Islamic art-and their interconnec- beginningto find a foothold in the museum-are of- tions-between about 1880 and 1903 in Paris and tenunclear but findtheir clearest expression in a com- also examinesexhibitions held in Stockholm(1897), parativelylate concern for the historicalart object's Algiers (1905), and Munich (1910). Exhibitionsin autonomy. This concern was ultimately fore- other European cities, for example in London groundedin the choice of installationtechniques; the (BurlingtonFine Arts Club, 1885)10and Vienna (Im- associativeand connotativevalues of some modes of perial and Royal Austrian Commercial Museum, installationbecame undesirable. 189 1),"lwere ofpartcular importance among the first Otherinterrelated issues-the formationof mu- displays of Islamicart, but they are not considered seums in the Middle East and North Africa,the de- herein anygreat detail. 2 In whatfollows, exhibitions velopment of museum collections in Europe,'6fac- are described and analyzedaccording to their dis- tors that fostered and sustainedan increasein col- play, arrangement,and contents, with the objective lecting, the role of the nineteenth-centuryuniversal of encapsulatingtheir nature as exhibitions, a goal expositions,'7the developmentof Europeannations' thatis met with varyingdegrees of success given the imperialand colonialprograms,"i and the emergence sparsedocumentation of some exhibitions,especially of the disciplineof anthropologyand the categoryof in comparisonto our contemporarypractices. The ethnographyin which non-Westernarts were often same is also true for their reception:some are given placed'9-fall beyond the scope of this essay, al- only passing mention;others inspired a voluminous though it must be admittedthat these topics are in- response. Also uncommon are referencesto exhi- extricablyconnected to its centraltheme. This essay bitionary tenets and philosophies; the exhibition may be considered as an introductionto the early practiceof most earlyexhibitions must be deduced collection and exhibition of Islamic art, only one from what are often incomplete written statements portion of a deep historiographicand culturalanaly- or off-hand remarksand occasional photographic sis thatwould tracethis specializationwithin the dis- records.Of equalimportance in thisessay is the circle cipline of the historyof artand determinehow it got of participantsinvolved in the promotion,study, and where it is today.20 exhibitionof Islamicart. The absence of a fully expressedtheory of exhi- bitions is not at all surprising.The exhibitionprac- AMATEURS' COLLECTIONS AND EXHIBITIONS tices of the second halfof the nineteenthcentury were IN PARIS IN THE i88oS AND 1890S constantly changing, with experimentationin new 12 formsof exhibitionspace and techniquesof display.'3 A handy littdesales catalogue,which documentsthe In fact,the clearestarticulation of displaytechniques now dispersedcollection ofAlbert Goupil (1840-84),

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son of the sawy artdealer Adolphe Goupil,2' is di- beenlined with carved and inlaid wooden panels and videdinto two sections:the artof the Orientand of doorways,sections of a muqarnascornice placed the Occident;within each section the objectsare highabove the roomagainst textured wall surfaces, groupedtogether according to mediumand briefly carpetshung in nichesor laid across the floor. Cush- described.22Goupil's collection, comprehensive inits ions weredeftly placed on top of piecesof wooden coverageof media,paralleled the emergingscholar- furniture,low stools,and a deep divanwith a low shipon Islamicart.23 The Orientalsection lists 296 railon threesides. Metal candlesticks and ewers were items,some of themillustrated with engravings and set on tablesor ledges,lamps suspended from the photogravures.Photographs documenting interiors of ceiling.A largedisplay cabinet housed miscellaneous his homeconclude each section of thecatalogue (fig. smallerobjects.24 The roomoffered a totalenviron- 1). Hence,the cataloguedocuments the collector's mentfor its collectedobjects-as a kind of live-in accumulationpiece by piece and illustratesthe en- museum25wherein objects functioned as highly valu- semblesthat the amateur (a term used for "connoisseur" able,decorative appurtenances complementing the in thelate nineteenth century) orchestrated from them. well-appointedinterior space. HotelDrouot organized the sale that took place The modeof presentationadopted in the sales between23 and27 April1888 at their auction house catalogueplaces the potentialbuyer in the Oriental andat thehome of AlbertGoupil, 7 rueChaptal, on (andOccidental) room and ignores the collection's Saturday28 April1888 at 3:00 P.M. Visitorscould impendingdispersal. Goupil's aesthetic sense and previewsome of the objectsat Goupil'shome over goodtaste are shown by theway he manipulatesob- the two days(21-22 April)preceding the show.A jectsto establishcomparisons andjuxtapositions that preambleto thecatalogue praised the collection as a bringout similarity or difference in form,design, and whole,its arrangement,and the collector's"variety subjectmatter, subtle harmonies and contrasts. The of inspirations."Here one could find Persian carpets numerousobjects were arranged in an "expertdisor- andArab glassware together with marbles and tap- der,"to producea semblanceof informality,a seem- estriesof the fifteenthcentury, furniture of the Re- inglyrandom array but within a unifiedstructure that naissance,modern paintings and drawings.These enhancedthe aesthetic value of theindividual compo- carefullychosen objects were arranged in tworooms, nents.Of course,even after the collectionwas dis- one for Orientalobjects, the otherfor Occidental mantled,each object would retain its pedigree, authen- ones.The anonymousauthor remarks: ticatedby the fact of its having been owned by Goupil. The strategyemployed in thesales catalogue and Everythingis notarranged there completely pell- its preamblefocuses on the personalityof the ama- mell,however, but according to anexpert disor- teurand argues for a seamlessrelation between col- der(savant desordre), which puts things in their lection and collector. The collection's quality properplace and gives them their genuine value. matchesthat of the man.Some years later in 1894, Two rooms,or perhaps two ateliers-one dedi- GeorgesMarye, reporting in the Gazettedes Beaux- catedto the Orientand the otherto theRenais- Artson the Exhibitionof MuslimArt at the Palais sance-permittheir owner to thinkhimself trans- des Champs-Elyseesin 1893, would single out portedby turnsinside some palacefrom The Goupil'scollection of Persiancarpets offered up at Thousandand One Nights or a dwellingof a great auctionand claim that the 1893 exhibitionwas the lordof thesixteenth century. firstto rivalit.26 An earlierconfirmation of Goupil's aestheticsensibility had appeared in 1885in essays The interiorphotographs provide evidence for how byEmile Molinier (a curator at the Louvre) and Henri Goupilhad arrangedobjects from his collectionin Lavoixon the Occidentaland Orientalportions of aninterior space (fig. 1); presumably the visitor could the collection, respectively.27Lavoix's essay on experiencethese interiors during the preview and fi- Goupil'sOriental art began with his recollectionof nalsale days held in Goupil'shome. takingnotes "alone in thisvast room arranged with 13 Goupil'sOriental room at 7 rue Chaptalhad so muchtaste and with such an original disposition,

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in the middle of this orientalmuseum where a half- arrivedlater for dessert, and togetherthey looked at light penetrates, softened by the mashrabiyya drawingsby Kenzan.Presumably, Goupil, like Vever (moucharaby)."28Standing in this room, Lavoix's and Gillot, used his home as a quiet settingfor dis- mind turnedto the man"who broughttogether each cussionwith choice friendsof the sameaesthetic pre- of theseriches one by one." Lavoixconcludes by not- dilectionsto communewith objects.For them Islamic ing that Goupil does not behavewith the vanityof a artfunctioned as a palliativeto refreshthe spiritand possessor but as an amateur,full ofjoy at his discov- soul. Its formalfeatures were to be studied in a set- eries and theirartistic merit. ting whose power may even have been to effect a A similarpresentation of a collectionthrough its mentaltransport to anothertime and place. collectoris used in the salescatalogue for Frenchjew- The amateur'scollection was privateand exclu- eler, painter, and collector Henri Vever. In it, L. sive; in order to see it one had to be admittedto a RogerMiles describes the atelier,located on the sixth circleof like-minded,qualified, and financiallywell- floor of an apartmentbuilding,29 as a refuge,a "place equippedindividuals, who werenearly always male.34 to talk, to discuss painting and painters."30Vever's Althoughcollecting had becomepossible fora wider collection combined modernpainting with the Ori- social group thanbefore because a growingart mar- ental art of the past. In his detailed diaries, Vever ket allowedpurchase without requiringtravel,35 ex- recordsnumerous visits to friends'homes, wherethe clusivitywas maintainedby enforcingstrict criteria gatheringof men would examineitems thatthey had of connoisseurshipso that buying top-classobjects collected. Illuminatingis an entry in Vever's diary only became harder. The development of higher dated 23 January1898, in which he recordsa visit to connoisseurialvalues had the effect of reinscribing CharlesGillot, a friendand printer by profession: differencesbetween social groupsjust as theyseemed in danger of disintegrating. Occasionally, objects Afternoon,at Gillot's [place]-Callot, Leflevre, from private collections would be transferredfrom Joly, Ch Houdard, and me-we were in ecstasy the privatedomestic space to the exhibitionfor pub- at everystep before the wonderfulpieces of this lic view to allow the initiatedand uninitiatedalike to magnificentcollection-it is certainlythe most glimpsetreasures that lay hidden away.36The activi- well-balancedgathering but also the most beau- ties of collectionand visual examinationallowed the tifulthat one can see. Everyseries is represented amateurthe means to affirmhis social statusin pri- in it by a quantity of choice pieces: lacquers, vate, and this status could be translatedto a public pottery,bronzes, paintings, etc. etc. And all of it settingas a "dramatizationof bourgeoisprivate life."37 is arrangedwith a refined taste-furniture of The particularform of displaying objects in a Grasset,oriental carpets, the generaldisposition privatedomestic context also showed the collector is perfect. It seems that when Gillot sets a new as a creative persona. Goupil's collection was ar- object in a showcase that it is improved,like a rangedin what might be termed "ateliers"and not painterwho puts a strokeon the canvas-It is a just rooms. Lavoix consideredGoupil's home to be perfect harmonyand an exquisite refinement- a museum; in Vever's mind, Gillot's arrangements And what a likeableand unpretentiousman!3' were analogousto an artistplacing brushstrokeson a canvas.The factthat the authors'references fluctu- Vever's comparison of collector to painter under- atebetween different spaces, graded along an increas- scores the collector'schoices and his role in shaping ingly privateto public axis, offersan insightinto the aestheticensembles. range of associationsfor some contemporaryview- On 17 October 1899, Vever describes another ers, especially to the artist'sstudio of the late nine- visit to the home of Gillot,this timefor lunch.32 Gillot teenthcentury.38 But nowhere-and of course this is had askedhim to bringhis "beautifulPersian book," not at all surprising-do we find referencesto either which he, Gillot, and Grassetthen examined.In ad- the departmentstore or to the universalexposition, 14 dition, Vever took with him a book of Japanese although these commercial contexts, ironically, sketches that Grasset also liked.33Gaston Migeon sharedmany of the same featuresof displayand the

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FIG. 2. Collectionof Hakky-Bey,Paris, 1906. Photo: GeorgesPetit, Paris. After Collection Hakky-Bey: Objets d'art et de haute curiosite.

spectacularaspect of uniting objects to simulatean ternedwall hangings,gas lamps, and carpetsunder- authenticcontext.39 The passage from Zola's novel foot. But the absenceof furniturefor sittingsuggests makesa gesture towardcontemporary social mores a retailcontext. The interiorillustrates the porosity and structuresthat sought to prevent the conflation between public and private, domestic and retail, of, or associationbetween, commercial and noncom- throughparticular display techniques. mercialspheres. Otherwisewhy would the "revolu- Another figurein French collecting circles was tionary"Mouret's effort to tempt connoisseursinto CharlesSchefer (1820-98), who became Professor the store's domain be so scandalous(even if tacitly of Persianat L'Ecoledes LanguesOrientales Vivantes so in Zola'stext)? It is in this context thatthe display in 1857. His collection-once housed at his home of objectsowned by dealerand collectorHakky-Bey on avenue Ingres at Passy-encompassed art from acquiresa specialresonance (fig. 2). The photograph North Africaand the Middle East, China andJapan. offersa visualpreface to a sales cataloguepublished Henri Cordier lamented the dispersal of Schefer's in 1906 when Hakky-Bey'scollection was put up for collectionin the yearof his death, in a sale organized sale, lock, stock, and barrel(even the wooden dis- by Hotel Drouot in 1898:4' play cases were sold).40The photographalmost cer- tainlyshows his shop, but it is a space domesticin its One must deplore the dispersalof such a collec- 15 scale and almost so in its trappings-the plush, pat- tion: the Orientis poorly representedin France,

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not onlyin privategalleries but also in statemu- havehoped to find and then talkedspecifically about seums;and that despite the fact that we area great the exhibition'sorganization: Muslimpower. The Louvrehas plainly shown itsdearth [of objects] through its embryonicori- It is obvious that the picturesque aspect was entalrooms. The museumsfounded by Cer- soughtafter, pampered, and that the development nuschiand Mr. Guimet are devoted to Chinaand of its charmshas causedsome harm to the charac- Japan;who will giveus theirequal for the trea- ter of a work that should only have been scien- suresof Syria,, and the Maghrib?42 tfic.... This faircriticism, formulated since the beginning,could not havebeen avoidedentirely. Figureslike Goupiland Scheferwere pioneersof At firstit was necessaryto strikethe eyes and to sorts;as private collectors they sought out and pur- reactto conventionalorientalism. Some conces- chasedobjects at a timewhen publicinstitutions, sion has been given to it in the firstroom, but it especiallyin France,were only beginning to develop was a case of forced measurethat organizersof and expandtheir holdings. Cordier addresses the exhibitionsknow well. On theother hand, the lack lack of a permanentinstitution and of fullydevel- of convictionregarding the project'ssuccess has oped,comprehensive state-sponsored collections of long paralyzedpeople who had agreedto lend Islamicart. In an essayof 1878, Lavoixexpressed theirhelp to thisinteresting enterprise, which has the sameregret. Reviewing the mixedmedia exhi- resultedin delays,lacunae, and even error.But it bition of Arab art at La Galerie Orientale du is good to declarethat this is the firstgeneral ex- Trocadero(in conjunctionwith the UniversalEx- hibition of Muslimart that has been attempted; position),assembled from the collections of private its successis destinedto affirmour tasteand sym- collectorsand urged on by AlbertGoupil,43 Lavoix pathies for aestheticmanifestations whose value complainsabout its imminent dispersal and the like- we werethe first to understand.France has opened lihoodthat this ensemble of objectswould never be a way thatothers have since enteredwithout risk, reunited.44Addressing an unidentified friend (per- profitingfrom her effortsand work.49 hapsSchefer), Lavoix writes, "I hope . . . thatthis orientalgallery will not be scatteredwithout a good Marye'sstatement suggests an emergingtension be- catalogueto restoreto us all of the treasuresof tween the common practicesof installationapplied knowledgethat it brought.Never before has a col- to Islamicart and a desire to escape theirOrientalist lectionof thisgenre been so greatin numberand so associationsand that an opportunitywas missed in instructive. . . all the richfurniture [mobilier: also Parisin 1893, when a new vision was not completely portableobjects] that adorned and that adorns Arab realized.The exhibition of Orientalistpaintings by housesand palaces, all of it is there."45He concludes the Peintres OrientalistesFranSais could not have his reviewessay by suggestingthat "his dear friend" helped. Like much of the discussion about the col- use the exhibition'smaterials to writea historyof lection and exhibition of Islamic art in France, Arabarts and industries.46 Marye'sreview is imbuedwith a nationalistsentiment The year1893 was a milestonein theexhibition thatwas given its most forcefulexpression in the lit- of Islamicart in Paris.A generalexhibition devoted eraturesurrounding the universalexpositions. The exclusivelyto Islamicart opened on thefirst floor of anxiety expressed by many reviewersover the dis- the Palaisde l'Industrieon the Champs-Elysees. persal of private collections reflected a fear that Comprisingsome 2,500 objects,it wasorganized by France'spatrimony was eroding. artistsand distinguished amateurs.47 The show's title, The impactof privatecollectors or amateurson Exhibitionof MuslimArt, caused some controversy; France'snational consciousness should not be un- by departingfrom the usual term Arab art, theexhi- derestimated.The collectorsand amateurs'activities bitionoverturned old habits.A reviewer,Georges and efforts-collecting, lending objects to exhibi- i6 Marye,48noted that it lacked the order that one would tions, and publishing a host of articlesand essaysin

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FIG. 3. Interior view with Bukhara rider at center, Collectionfrom the Orient in the GeneralArt and Industry Exhibition, __ Stockholm,1897. Photo: Norstedt and Sons, Stockholm.After Martin, ?,I'~ y~ F. R. Martins Sammlungen _ ~~~~~~~~~ausdem Orient.

contemporaryjournals-were as much about self- COLLECTION FROM THE ORIENT, GENERAL advertisementas they were about the promotion of ART AND INDUSTRY EXHIBITION, Islamicart. Collectors not only collectedbut also re- STOCKHOLM, 1897 viewed exhibitions and promoted their collection throughpublications. In this way they were able to FrederikRobert Martin, Swedish-born diplomat, manipulatethe marketand to takeadvantage of it,50 collector,dealer, and scholar, exhibited his Collec- giving greatervisibility to an artistic traditionthat tionfrom the Orient at theGeneral Art and Industry would then be more systematicallyacquired by state Exhibitionin Stockholmin 1897. The exhibition museums.5'Indeed, collectors like Vever served as handbookcontains several interior photographs (figs. membersof newly formedmuseum advisory boards; 3-6) anda brieflyannotated list of objectsthat could he becamea memberof the Society of Friendsof the be foundthere.53 The objectswere hung on walls and Louvre,52a semiprofessionalrole thatformalized his ceilingor placedin displaycabinets and cases lined personalconnection to Migeon.It maynot havebeen up againstthe walls or in the middleof the floor.A a coincidence that Lavoix's and Molinier's essays roughlygeographical arrangement was followed about Goupil's collection preceded its sale by three beginningwith the Caucasus;moving on to Persia, years; they certainlycould only have enhanced its Turkey,and Egypt; and ending with Turkestan. In prestigeand value. Fromour perspective none of this somecabinets objects were grouped together accord- seems new, but in the 1880s and 1890s the interac- ing to type,for instance, musical instruments (cabi- tion amongcollectors, dealers, and the marketwas a net no. 2), ceramics(cabinet no. 9), and weapons relativelynew phenomenon; objectivityor conflict (cabinetno. 10);in othersthey combined different of interest were not considered problems and re- media.Some of the shelveswere arranged like min- maineduncontrolled by anymechanism. Instead, the iaturestudies to resembledomestic vignettes. Cabi- cultural climate of late nineteenth-centuryFrance netno. 9 (fig.6), devotedto ceramics,contained six producedthe primeconditions for a fruitfulsymbio- shelvesresembling an archaeological cross-section- sis between private and public spheres-the shardsand fragmentary pieces piled in thelowermost amateur'snewest and best deal-and at a time of shelf;bowls, plates, lamps, and wall tiles becoming heightenedpolitical concern for the nation'sexpand- morecomplete with increasing elevation. All media 17 ing colonies.

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FIG. 4. Interior wall with cabinets nos. 11 and 12, Collectionfromthe Orient in the GeneralArt and Industry Exhibition, Stockholm,1897. Photo: . v >Y 4 . Norstedt and Sons, Stockholm.After Martin, F. R. Martins Sammlungen aus dem Orient. j ___

FI.5. Detail of cabinets nos. 5 and 6, Collectionfrom the Orient in the GeneralArt and IndustryExhibition, Stockholm,1897. Photo: S~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~71..1-l tny -b! Norstedtand Sons,I Stockholm.After Martin, F.

R. Martins SammiAungenaus *4 dem Orient.

(carpets,silk and cottontextiles, ceramic, metalwork, broideredclothes and a stripedturban and mounted stucco, woodwork, carved stone, works on paper) on a horse clad in rich textilecaparison and tackle.A were representedin the exhibition, and every avail- three-tieredwooden plinth raised the centralfigure able surface-horizontal and vertical-was filled. above the freestanding cabinets that encircled it. Entryto the room seems to have been througha From the ceiling above hung cotton and silk textiles single door set into a corner, modeled afterone of thatfiltered the light from the skylightsabove them. theArab houses in .From this off-axisentrance Immediatelyto the rightofthe doorwaywas a stepped 18 the visitorwas confrontedby the Bukhararider (fig. marblestructure covered with a carpet(fig. 4), a large 3), a bearded mannequindecked out in richly em- potted plantplaced on a wooden plinth, and the last

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floor-to-eye-levelarea lined with glassy, reflective display cases. The handbook also mentions a loggia exhibit- ing objects of mixed media and a room where the visitorcould find an exhibit of photographs,but the relationbetween these auxiliaryspaces and the main room is unclear.The photographsincluded general views and architectureof the Caucasus,Constantin- ople, Bursa,Konya, Asia Minor, Cairo (Islamicand Pharaonic), Turkestan, Samarkand, Bukhara, Khokand,and the Urals. This extremely dense, cluttered installation- where sheer quantityof objects within definablese- ries arguedfor the exclusivity of individualitems- 9.~~~~~~~~~~~ was also used in the universal expositions, annual J ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ h. - salons,and commercialgalleries.54 Lighting by a sky- : l* 4 light diffused through hung fabrics and amenities such as furnitureand potted plants were also com- mon in the commercialgalleries. Elements like the waxwork mannequin of the authentic Oriental on horseback and the combination of art objects and photographic exhibit-photographs documenting distantarchitecture (and possibly ethnographicim- Sb...-..~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~...... ages)55-were also common in pavilions at the uni- versal expositions. The doorway-as a point of en- FIG. 6. Detail of cabinet no. 9, Collectionfromthe Orient try-copied aftera CaireneArab house perhapssig- in the GeneralArt and Industry Exhibition, Stockholm, nified the visitor's movement to another place in 189 7. Photo:Norstedt and Sons, Stockholm.After Martin, much the same way that the architectureand instal- F. R. Martins Sammlungen aus dem Orient. lation of separatepavilions or entire quartersat the universalexpositions had done. two cabinets (nos. 11 and 12) of the numbered cir- The objectsin the Collectionfrom the Orienton cuit placed against the wall. Ceramic plates, garments, display in Stockholm belonged entirely to Martin. fringes, and tassels were arranged around and above One-manexhibitions by collectorswere not uncom- the doorways and cabinets. A small chair and table mon. Two yearslater (1899), FriedrichSarre (1865- were set up at the opposite end of the entry wall; pre- 1945) put his collectionon public exhibitin Berlinat sumably the table contained information for the visi- theK6niglichen Kunstgewerbemuseum. And in 1912, tor. Cabinet no. 1 was placed immediately beyond Martinwould profferhis collection for public view the table and chair. again,though this time it consistedof only paintings, The room was decorated with additional plants drawings,and artsof the book fromPersia, India, and set on low plinths and seating for the visitor; for ex- Turkey.56Martin was not unusualin unitingthe roles ample, a low bench after cabinet no. 3 was covered of scholar,collector, and dealer;his entrepreneurial with a richly patterned carpet, with other carpets skills are adequatelyattested in the use of exhibition hung on the wall behind to cushion the seated andpublication to promoteIslamic art and to increase visitor's back. The crowded walls and shelves of the sales, a rationalealready proposed for Martin's1912 room must have produced an overwhelming display exhibition.57If the 1912 exhibitionwas intendedas a of color and material, an effect exaggerated by the salespitch, it was an effectiveone. Withina few years 19 light filtered through the textiles hung above and the manyof the workson paperowned by Martinpassed

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into the hands of other privatecollectors and muse- tion, Gaston Migeon noted that l'Union Centrale ums. In Stockholm,his intentionmay also havebeen sought to educatedecorative artists and craftsmen. to promote the objects on displayand to encourage A thin handbook accompanyingthe exhibition their sale. The photographscertainly show installa- contains a two-page list of lenders and an item-by- tion techniquesthat project the objectas commodity. item description of its objects,64divided according In examiningthese photographsone has the impres- to medium and arrangedchronologically. Subdivi- sion of notjust lookingbut somehowshopping. sions follow a regionalscheme. The exhibitionwas meantto be comprehensivein scope and to comply with categoriesof objects that had been alreadyes- EXHIBITION OF MUSLIM ART, MUSEE DES tablished.65Although several reviews were published, ARTS DECORATIFS, PAVILLON DE MARSAN, they say little about specific aspects of it: we find PARIS 1903 vaguereferences to "welllit andjustly proportioned rooms,"to "harmonyeverywhere."66 Migeon wrote The Musee des Arts Decoratifswas not the firstPa- two reviews of the exhibition. In the first,he charts risianvenue to exhibit a rangeof media.The exhibi- the history of Islamic art exhibitions in Paris and tion at the Palaisdes Champs Elysees in 1893 had praisesthe collectorswho loaned objectsbefore dis- alreadydone so.58Marye expressed the hope that"in cussingspecific objects.67 "This exhibition'svalue," the future... , and to the profit of our [French]in- he writes, "will be proven if it revealsto the public dustrialarts, ... it will be done againsoon and more thosepure marvelsthat are capable of enchantingthe completely,"59and he noted that "this first exhibi- eyes, if it improvestaste, and if it sensitizesthem to tion gives a sufficientsurvey to propagatetaste for an the point thatit makesany artlacking richness, deco- artneglected until the present, and whose studymust rative logic, fantasyand color, intolerable."68The be profitablefor our decorativearts by knowledgeof group of objects lent to the exhibitionoffered proof forgottentechnical processes and of an aestheticthat that "the cult of beautifulthings is preservedintact is oftenpoorly understood."60 in this city of taste."69He refersto minorfaults in the The Pavillonde Marsan,located adjacent to the exhibition, but he does not say what they are and Palaisdes Tuileries,became the temporarysite of the concludes that it was done with taste. His second Musee des Arts Decoratifsin 1905. Before that the reviewis a little more specific, contrastingthe exhi- museum, founded by l'Union Centrale des Arts bitions of 1903 and 1893.70 The objects on exhibit Decoratifsand supported by privateinitiative, had in 1893, he writes,did nothingmore than"reveal an been housed at the Palais d'Industrie.Until 1905, Orient that a slightly curious tourist could have the Pavillonde Marsanwas used only for temporary knownfrom the diversebazaars of the Levant."'7'The exhibitions. The 1903 Exhibition of Muslim Art 1903 exhibitionavoided this fault by usingonly loans sharedthe samemission as otherprojects sponsored fromprivate collectors who could contributethe most by l'Union Centraledes Arts Decoratifs,basically to remarkableobjects. Raymond Koechlin's review "affirmthe prestigeof Frenchcraftsmanship."6' The makesthe samecomparison and drawsa similarcon- organization'sobjective was achieved througha se- clusion.72In 1893 it seemed that dealers, not ama- ries of exhibitions as well as publications. For ex- teurs, had made the majorityof loans, but in 1903 ample,beginning in late 1880s the union published "thanksto the willingnessof collectorsto open their thejournal Revuedes Arts Decoratifs and a series of displaycabinets to the organizers,"73only top-qual- lavishlyillustrated portfolio volumes on decorative ity oeuvresd'art had been lent. Koechlinassured his art. The first, published in 1888-89, included five readerthat no single collectionhad been beyond the Islamic objects.62The 1903 exhibition was com- organizer'sreach. memorated by a deluxe tome that illustrated 100 In Migeonand Koechlin's assessments we discern objectsfrom the exhibition,63the namesof theirown- a growingconcern for the qualityof the objectand the 20 ers appearingprominently along the lower edge of implicit notion that the pedigree of ownership each sheet. And in describingthe exhibition'sfunc- guaranteedit. The list of lenders at the beginningof

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the cataloguestood as a record of their accomplish- velvets, the diverse aspects of Moroccan industry ment, and absencesfrom it signaleda failureto make decorateda third,and Berberindustry a fourth.Two the cut. The criteriaof selection of objects for the otherrooms displayed specimens of Orientalart lent exhibition, fictionally based on only the object's by Algeriancollectors. On the lower floor, the cen- merit, in fact served as a way to underscorediffer- tralroom was decoratedwith carpets,and a second ences and hierarchiesamong membersof collecting was devotedto the ceramiccollection of Mr.Mermet, circles. ReviewersMigeon and Koechlin were also architectof the GeneralGovernment, who arranged lenders,and despite theirclaims dealers also partici- the collection himself. The third room, decorated pated.The identificationof dealers'names-perhaps with objectsmade in Europeand thoughtappropri- mentioned here as amateursand not vendors as a ate for a Maghribiaudience (mirrorsfrom Venice, markof distinction-nonetheless revealedthe inevi- wallpapers/hangingsfrom Lyon and Genes, a French tablepresence of the market. clock decoratedwith turbansand scimitars),had an Arabconcert installed in it. Marcaisthought that the room's disposition,by THE EXHIBITION OF MUSLIM ART OF its formand decoration, offered a naturalcomplement ALGIERS, ALGIERS, 1905 to theobjects. Beneath the decoration ofplaster in ivory tones(presumably the central ) "with sober high- The Exhibitionof MuslimArt was held in April 1905 lightsof gold,vermilion, and azure, a softlytinted light in Algiersunder the directionof Mr. Luciani,Direc- broughtout therichness ofthe old objectsand brought torof IndigenousAffairs, and organizedby Mr. Gsell. excessive elementsinto harmony."76A detailedde- A madrasawas selected as the venue. A book pub- scriptionof the other rooms follows,77and many of lished the next year, with an essay by Georges them are illustrated(see figs. 7-10). The exhibition Marcais,served as a visual and textualrecord of the followeda roughlyregional organization, with most exhibition.74It contains numerousphotographs of rooms showing objectsin mixed media. the installationand the objects exhibited. In its installation,little distinguishesthe Algiers According to Mar,ais, the exhibition's objec- exhibitionfrom Martin'sof some years earlier.The tive was to present industrial arts to the Algerian centralroom (fig. 7), a survey of Maghribiart in its public and to those visiting Algiers for a Congress entirety,imposed certainrestrictions on the arrange- of Orientalists.In only a few weeks, Gsell was able mentof its objects;although its authenticcontext was to transformthe 'sclassrooms into a mu- a bonus, the desire to leave the architecturevisible seum "4whereeach technique, all the diverse styles meantthat objects needed to be confined in a range of Maghribi industrial art were represented, of verticaland horizontalcabinets. Banners, erected grouped in a logical order, and where some beauti- on poles, relievedthe predominantlyhorizontal axis. ful examples of Orientalart allowed for interesting The "SecondOriental Room" (fig. 8) madeextensive comparisons."75Thus, the bulk of objects origi- use of the walls for a display of carpets from Asia nated in the Maghrib,with some objects produced Minor and Turkestan and textiles, with groups of in the farther-flungregions of the Islamic world. A armshung againstthem. The undersidesof the cabi- list of lenders shows that most of the objects came nets displayedmore objects,and smallitems of por- from North Africancollections. tablefurniture crept into the floor space. A cradleat An additionaldescription of the madrasalays out the farend of the room was augmentedby a heavily its plan-a central courtyard covered by a dome, embroidereddrape, and a largejardinierefrom Tur- rooms circulatingaround it, with four domed units key-loaded with flowers-occupied centralstage. A at the outercorners on the firstfloor and threerooms lampsuspended from the ceilingwas a moderncopy on a lower floor-and the rooms' contents.The cen- of an originalone. tralhall contained specimens from nearlyall of the In the "BerberRoom" (fig. 9) anotherenviron- provincesof theMaghrib. Of the roomsthat encircled mentwas created.The cornerof the roomwas draped 21 it, two were devoted to embroideredthin stuffsand with woven and embroidered fabrics, and carpets

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were laid across the floor. Nothing stood in the way of the visitor's touch, so a small plaque hung at the left served as a warning. The drapes, placed on the wall without regard to original function, united old and new to invoke an authentic domestic context.78 Another image, a close-up portraying "Portable Ob- jects and Metalwork" (fig. 10), arranged furnitureand embroidered textiles as a tableau to contain and dis- play objects. The vignette has all the informality of a domestic scene, albeit a method of arranging and viewing Islamic art that was generated in France and then projected back onto the colony.79 This photo- graph encapsulates the major issue about the exhibi- tion in Algiers, basically that it was a fiat exhibition in which the episteme of the universal exposition was exported to France's colony, one through which the artisticproducts of the Maghrib's provinces, in a form of inversion, acquired definition. Thus, although the installation techniques are related to those that we have already seen, the exhibition's physical context gave them an entirely different charge.

EXHIBITION OF MASTERPIECES OF FIG. "View tiheCentral "Exhibition Muslim 7. of Room, of MUHAMMEDAN ART, MUNICH, 1910 Art ofAlgiers, Algiers, April 1905. Photo: Cliche6Famin, A. published by Fontemoing.After Marfazs~, L'Exposition The Exhibition of Masterpieces of Muhammedan d'Art Musulman I. d'Alger, pi Art, Munich, 1910, is perhaps the best documented

FIG. 8. "Viewof the Second Oriental Room,"Exhibition ofMuslim Art of , Algiers, Algiers, April 1905. Photo: ClicheFamin, published byA. Fontemoing.After Marfais, 22 L'Exposition d'Art Musulman d'Alger, pI. XXI.

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FIG. 9. "Viewof the Berber Room," Exhibition of Musl'im Art of Algiers, Algiers, / ~~~~~~~~~~~~~April1905. Photo: j4 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~~ ~Cliche6Famin, published by A. Fontemoing.After A~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mar~ais, L'Exposition -3 d'Art Musulman d'Alger, pl. XVIIL II~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~T

~~~~FIG. ~~~~~ 10. "PortableObjects and

A. --v, - - Metalwork,""Exhibition of Muslim ~~~ Art ofAlgiers, Algiers, April 1905. Photo: ClicheFamin, Publishedby A. Fontemoing.After Mar9ais, L'Exposition d'Art Musulman d'Alger, p1. X.

of early exhibitions. An unillustrated guidebook pub- the art tradition.8' Von Tschudi also noted that visi- lished in conjunction with the exhibition80 had an tors to the contemporary Middle East would only be introduction by Hugo von Tschudi, director of the disappointed by the objects they would find in the exhibition committee. In it he offered the reader a great bazaars of Oriental cities, goods whose artistic brief summary of"Muhammedan" art and laid down value was not proportionate to that of their fore- some themes that were central to the emerging schol- bears.82He considered this modern "bric-a-brac" as arly discourse on Islamic art-for instance, the high a culprit of sorts for it had spoiled (verdorben: also esteem accorded to calligraphy, the preponderance polluted) the educated person's pleasure in Oriental 23 of ornament, the predominantly aniconic nature of art.83The best of Islamic art was not to be found in

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Orientalbazaars but in the Schatzkammernof Euro- descriptionsof eachobject to theirappropriate room, pean churchesor in princelycollections accumulated and a red line superimposed over the plan guided over centuries,some objectsacquired through gift.84 the visitorin a one-waysystem through rooms num- A small numberof objects were still to be found in bered 1 to 80 located in interconnectedexhibition the Orient, but their rarityand value on the Euro- halls 3, 4, and 5 (fig. 1 1). The catalogueproper was pean artmarket were long recognizedby the "Orien- dividedaccording to medium;87within each category tal.:"Von Tschudi observedthat in his timethey were divisionswere made accordingto region,and within becoming rarer-fewer and fewer objects entered each regionaccording to chronology.Private collec- privateand public collections throughthe greatart tors and dealers lent the majorityof the 3,553 ob- markets of Paris and London.85Presumably, the jects.88A trades'show (in hall 2) and exhibitionof Munichexhibition would tryto counterthese impres- old andnew musicalinstruments (in hall 1) coincided sions of Islamic art. Von Tschudi stated that the with the exhibitionof Islamicart. Represented at the exhibition'sobjectives were quiteplainly to workout tradeshow were severalfirms and antiquedealers,89 the artisticrelevance of Islamicart, to widen expo- theirwares set in a space designed and directedby sure to it and alter the perception of those who did the architectHerbert and Kurz.90Elsewhere at Ba- not appreciateit, as well as to demonstrate"that the variaPark and North Park,9'the theaterhall, and in creationof Muhammedanart deserves a place equal the bazaarand cafe buildings were contemporary to that of other culturalperiods, and because of its sculptures,paintings, and photographs. The commer- harmonyof color and masteryof ornamentit is par- cial adjunctto the show is underscoredby numerous ticularlysuitable to give new stimulito modernartis- advertisementstaken out by firmsin the backportion tic creativityand perhapsshow it a new path."86 of the exhibitionguide. Indeed, the guidebook'sin- The guidebook'snumbered floor plan keyed the side coverbore the printedimage of a tasseledcarpet

Halle111.

78 72 79 0 . . SJ ~.3 1h,.wq adw_e HalleIV.,,,

Ausstellung von Mcisterverken 70 Mdt@ s 5ghubammedanischer Kunst S T rc 1 ~~~~~~ L C S E~~~~~Munchen S b E 1910.

Haupsinganl HauptJingangg f BJLL A rXlHalleK o pp. 4-5. III, IV und V.

<:: t~~~~~1 t2 31 F~4rt|$ h

5 F 4 1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~Halle V.I_

f f E~~~~~~~~~~~~msI: M 1000 NAnneiengang 24 FIG. 11. Floor/plan, Exhibition of Masterpiecesof Muhammedan Art, Munich, 191 0. Photo:Rudolf Mosse, Munich. After Ausstellung Miunchen19 10 Amtlicher Katalog,pp. 4-5.

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FIG. 1.2. "Courtof Honor," room no. 1 Exhibition of ' ' ~~Masterpiecesof Muhammedan Art, Munich, 1910. Photo: F. Bruckmann I A.-G.,Munich. After Sarre and Martin, Ausstellung von ~Meisterwerken-~~~~ 'WI ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~MuhammedanischerKunst,

with a legend reserved in white: "L. Bernheimer, so-called Court of Honor (fig. 12),95designed as a Munich, Lenbachplatz3. First and oldest import courtyardenclosed by fourshallow , with a pool house of Orientalcarpets in south Germany.Distin- at its center. Tiled areas animatedthe interior,and guishedcollection of 16th and 17th centuryCarpets. borders accentuatedrecessed niches and produced Importeddirectly from the Orient." smallerunits within large continuous surfaces.Low The guideis equallyinformative about the castof balustrades,picking up the tile patternof the walls, figuresresponsible for the installationof the Master- mediatedthe floor spaces of court and . Potted pieces of MuhammedanArt exhibition.92Technical treesand plantsadded furthervertical and horizontal and architecturalaspects were processed through the axes to the space. This first space, with its architec- BuildingOffice of the MunichExhibition, 1910. Ar- tureand decor evocativeof a mosque courtyard,was tisticdirection was providedby Becker;general room the exception and aimed to createarchitectonic val- layoutby Rehlen;von Millerhandled the architecture ues attemptedin two otherrooms (nos. 39 and 72). of the singlerooms; separate designs and the decora- Approximatelyhalfway through the exhibition's tive arrangementof the "Courtof Honor" ("Ehren- eighty rooms the visitor arrivedat a columned hall raumes,"no. 1; fig. 12) were by Fiechter. with a low ceiling (roomno. 39; fig. 13). The central The guidebook does not contain photographs areaof the room, a rectangledefined by fifteenload- documentingthe installation,nor is therean explicit bearingcolumns, was given over to carpetslaid on statementabout the exhibition'sprinciples of organi- the floor and cordoned off from the perimeter.Car- zation.These would come two years laterin a copi- pets were accompaniedby mosque furniture,indud- ouslyillustrated and monumental four-volume work.93 ing a Qur'anstand (kursi)and a Quran storagebox. HereFriedrich Sarre composed the foreword, perhaps The perimeterwall was lined with carpetsand carved in responseto the scathingcritiques by Frenchreview- plaques set into the wall. Two largepanels, lit from ersofthe 1910 exhibition,to whichwe willreturn later. behind, contained stucco window framesmade up Several scholars/collectors/epigraphistswrote ex- ofpieces of colored glass. Anotherroom, no. 72 (fig. pandedentries for the objectsas well as introductory 14) on the floor plan, showed mainly arms and ar- essays to each section divided by medium.94Three mor, textiles (bannersand wall hangings),with car- photographsaccompany Sarre's introductory state- pets used to form backdrops. Analysis of the 25 ment, givingsome idea of the installation.One is the guidebook's list of objects indicates that, although

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FIG. 13. "Hall of Columns, room no. 39, Exhibition of Masterpiecesof MuhammedanArt, Munich, 1910. Photo: F. Bruckmann A.-G., Munich. After Sarre and Martin, Ausstellung von Meisterwerken MuhammedanischerKunst, 1:2.

FIG. 14. "Armory,"room no. 72, Exhibition of Masterpieces of MuhammedanArt, Munich, 191 0. Photo:F. BruckmannA. -G., Munich. AfterSarre and Martin, Ausstelung von Meister- werken Muhammedanischer Ii El Kunst, 1:3.

there were concentrationsof specific media in cer- Sarre'sforeword to the exhibition'scommemo- tain rooms, most rooms contained a varietyof ob- rativepublication, written in Berlinin October191 1, jects. The installation photographs reveal a mea- dealswith the architectureand principlesof installa- sured, steady procession of objects, a drastically tion. One passage deserves to be quoted in full: thinnedout versionof thosemuseological techniques appliedpreviously to displayIslamic art. At Munich, The architecturaldesign of the exhibitionspace wall and floor space opened up to allow the objects stemmedfrom the municipalbuilding commis- room to breathe.Rooms were arrangedaccording to sioner Rehlen and his assistant Ruppert von 26 region, and within those categoriessubdivided ac- Miller;Professor Bruno Beckerassumed the ar- cording to technique.96 tisticdesign. Only a few roomsshowed a stronger

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influenceof Orientalarchitectural form, such as manyto promoteIslamic art by "hisintelligent propa- a hall of columns and armoryand the entrance ganda."Migeon then weighs in on the installation: hall by Dr. Ernst Fiechter, effectivelydesigned as a mosquecourtyard, and displayingas a Court Why did they have to compromisesuch coura- of Honor the carpetsof the Residenz.The other geous effortsand so many marvelousobjects by halls, designed in contemporaryfashion, were the most perfect incoherence and aggravating not always well received; with their white absence of taste in orderingthe exhibition and ornamentlesswalls, the loosely executedexhibi- in presentingits items? I am not speakingof the tion did not follow traditionalprinciples of inte- exhibitionbuilding-it was imposedupon them, riorpainting. A certainsobriety of the rooms,the the type of building that looks like a hangaror lack of color effects and lack of fantasticaccu- -a complete absence of a logical mulations,the attemptto have the artworks im- preliminaryplan, sometimes rooms are enor- press merely throughtheir quality:all this may mous and sometimesnarrow and restricted.The have been emphasizedsomewhat crudely here objects, dispersed at randomand without well- and there, as one [exhibition organizer]inten- consideredgroupings, could not lend themselves tionallydeclared war againstthe popularunder- to any comparativestudy, and it was not pos- standing of Oriental art, against the fairytale sible to make a challenge,to assertthe need for splendorand bazaarcommodities.97 intelligentorderings, because they were thrown pell-mellinto formlessboxes thatone would not Here Sarrerefers to the pareddown installationaes- have been able to call display cases: and when thetic. White walls and the sober disposition of ob- therewas an effortto put things in order, it was jects would counterthose techniquesof contextual- to culminatein showingextraordinary enameled izationthat relied on the effectof accumulation.The glass, such precious objects,in a wall recess,in a aestheticvalue of the latterconjured Orientalist im- cagewhose uprightshad been sawnfrom planks agesof the bazaarthat were in turnimbued with com- of packing crates (as a background, the wall mercialassociations. rough-castwith a coatof whitewash),and flanked The exhibition seems to have passed without by two poor littlegreen bushes trimmedlike cy- much comment in Germany,98and reviews of it in press to recall the delicacy of the Generalifein Englandfocus on its contents and the implications Granada.I have heard it said "one didn't want of theirstudy. Writing for the Burlington Magazine,99 to make The Thousandand OneNights" ... Oh! Roger Fry discusses the unclearart historical transi- no! that they should have been so fearfulof it. tion fromGreek and Romancivilizations to medieval The silliness of this point, affectedand volun- artand notes thatthe role played by Islamicart is far tary,resulted in the most offensivepretense, and greaterthan heretofore considered. Fry says nothing only the supremebeauty of the items that it of- about the installation.The French, however, were fers for view can pardon the interiordecorators extremelyvocal. of Munichfor theirabsolute ineptitude in creat- The reviews of Gaston Migeon and Raymond ing harmonyaround the objects.... That said, Koechlin are especially detailed in their criticism. it would be ridiculous to waste time on further Migeonbegins his essay with an overviewof exhibi- criticismof this sort in the face of the master- tionsof Islamicart, noting how the incompleteshows pieces that are on show.'01 of the 1880s and the 1890s culminatedin 1903 at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs,Paris.100 He contin- Migeon's vituperative critique speaks for itself. ues by identifyingthe roles played by von Tschudi, Koechlin'sreview also sets the exhibitionin a histori- Martin,and Sarre,as well as theircollaborators (who cal contextby brieflyreferring to earlierones, and, in workedto secureloans for the exhibition),and then a languagereminiscent of nationalrivalry so charac- absolvesthem: they played no partin the exhibition's teristicof the universalexpositions, he notes the par- 27 installation.Sarre had done morethan anyone in Ger- ticularlystrong turnout of Germany,France, Austria,

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Russia, Sweden, Turkey, Egypt, and England.'02 rior, mosque or palace, and consequentlybe more Koechlin also highlights the "lack of taste demon- suggestive."'08His subsequentremarks are of para- stratedby the installationand the sadness of its dis- mount importance: position," which immediatelystrike the visitor. He mentions the capriceof the exhibition'sconception Those who arenot accustomedto the Secession- and notes thathe is not referringto the "strangeness ist mode of exhibitionrooms-which is generally of stylein the rooms'interior architecture ... to which adopted today in Germanyand Austria-could contemporaryGerman art has becomeattached" but also figureout thatthe Munichorganizers tried to "to the vexing effectof simplicitythat this whitewash deceive appearancesby the distributionand dis- of milky lime spread evenly over the walls and the persalof objectsto give the impressionof a multi- shocking disparity between this poverty and the tude in rooms thatare more or less empty.'09 splendor of carpets which hang everywhere."He then turns to the display cases. Koechlinconsiders Montadonis the only reviewerto makea connection the freestandingdisplay cabinetto be the most logi- betweenthe Munichexhibition's installation and the cal type for it permits its objects to be viewed from exhibition aesthetic advanced by the Secessionists differentangles, but in this exhibitionhe countedno (the strongestparallels are to the Vienna Secession, more than ten freestandingcases. Rather,the orga- particularlyafter 1900), clearlyantithetical to most nizersshowed a "bizarrepreference" for recessesin of the other Frenchreviewers. "0 the wall covered over by sheets of glass fastenedby In defense of Becker, Rehlen, von Miller, and nails or "displaycases set at too deep an angle and Fiechter,Montadon concluded that their chief goal poorly lit, and whose heavy mountings furtherin- had been to organizea study exhibition(etude: also creased the sense of sadness."The sumptuousob- research),despite the fact that one could choose to jects lost theirimpact; the "gracelesswooden frames criticizethem for neglectingthe artisticaspect. The crushedthe marvelsthat they confined."'03 objects,"arranged in a frameworkmore or less iden- The sadnessof the exhibitionwas augmentedby ticalto thatto which they areaccustomed, and with- the principle of arrangement"in a dispersedorder" out ceasing to give the eye pleasure,were proffered (en ordre disperse9);'04Koechlin counts twenty-four above all else to instructthe visitors, the majorityof rooms in the exhibitionbuilding and wonders why whom were absolutelaymen.""' In bringinghis in- they were all used.'05 Some rooms were virtually troductoryremarks to a close, Montadonnotes that empty of display cases, and some cases contained most of the studies of the exhibitionacknowledged veryfew objects.The sparsenesswas especiallyprob- that the lematic for pieces of secondaryinterest-the instal- lation technique only drew attentionto their medi- time has passed for heavingexclamations of ro- ocrity. In a fit of nostalgia,he recalledthe extraordi- mantic enthusiasmbefore the richness, colors, nary effect createdat the Pavillonde Marsan,men- andfantasy of Orientalproducts. Rather, the time tioning in particularthe inlaid bronzes and textiles: has come to do justice to artistswho were per- "the same pieces are at Munich, but one must hunt fectlycompetent in theirart, whose manualdex- to catch sight of them; no more titillationof colors, terity,acquired through the practiceof properly no more feastingfor the eyes."''06 observed rules, did nothing less than offer a A thirdreview, written by MarcelMontadon,'07 highly developed sense of composition, math- adopts a differenttone, congratulatingthe installers ematicalor picturesque, and a senseof beautythat for overcoming the detrimentaleffects of light and we have not had in our education.In leavingthe atmospherein Munich.Montadon did not sharethe exhibitionone could not help beingaffected by a impressionof sadness and boredomvoiced by oth- new admirationfor thesepeople, who havebeen ers "beforethese beautifulwhite walls."Mentioning naivelyaccused of barbarismand who knewhow .28 the placement of carpets on the ground, he com- to push their civilizationto the marvelousblos- mented, "whatcould come closer to an orientalinte- somingof artsummarized therein."12

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Whathad been attemptedat Munichwas nothingless lections fromthose ofparvenus.They now facedthe than the reorientationof a culturalmindset toward growing reality that collecting was available to a Islamicart. Through the alterationof the spatialen- broaderclientele. In Zola's novel the fictionalchar- vironmentin which objects were encountered,and acterMouret would makecarpets available to a wider by their distribution through that space, specific group than ever before; department stores sold Orientalisttropes were avoided-the bazaarand the Japonneriesand Turqueries(see fig. 15). In orderto fairytale-and a new functionwas inscribedinto the maintainthe distinction, and to remain above and order, the use of objects to narratea history of art beyond the fray, exhibition organizers depended (even if the latterwas somewhatpoorly actualized). upon the loans of distinguishedcollectors whose dis- positions, highly developed taste, and sensorialre- finementwould guaranteethe qualityof the objects CONCLUSION theylent. Referencesto low-gradeproduction in con- temporaryIslamic countries and to the depletion of The essays about Islamicart and reviewsof its exhi- antique objects from their bazaarsconjured an im- bitionreveal a consistentlevel of consciousnessabout age of Europe as refugiumof all that was valuable. the "history"of Islamicexhibitions in this formative Collectorshad their objects. At the same time, na- period.Introductions to exhibitionreviews of Islamic tions vied for archaeologicalprivileges in Islamic art typicallymention the locations and years of ear- countries-more objects were to be found below lier shows, usually couched in statementsthat con- ground.Digging and siftingwere required.Evidence vey the writer'sgentle excitement and enthusiasmfor of a collector's refinementwas publicized and dis- the emergingfield and the growth of interest in it. seminatedthrough descriptions of his carefullyor- Althoughexhibition organizers are more or less ex- chestrateddomestic spaces, which were, in essence, plicit in describingtheir goals, by the turnof the cen- nondiscursivespaces for the eye'scontemplation. But tury new concerns emerge in the display of Islamic the collector'screativity did not alwaysend with the art.Although the firsthints are provided as earlyas act of assemblingan aestheticizedinterior space. For 1893 in Marye'sreview of the Parisexhibition of the a select few, like Henri Vever, these environments sameyear, they aresurely given theirclearest formu- were used for artisticinspiration, and theirpurpose lation at Munichin 1910. exceeded the role of adjunct to a wealthy lifestyle. The earliestexhibitions of Islamicart appeared By rathercomplex mechanisms,a cast of collectors/ in the context of the universal exposition, and al- dealers/scholars/curators(roles thatwere not mutu- thoughothers were held beyond the expositioncon- ally exclusive)worked togetherto promote and en- text, various featuresof its exhibitionarytechnique hancethe valueof objectsthat they consideredsorely and its framework were retained. Indeed, the neglected,and togethertheyjump-started a market. collector'spractice was defined in part by the ency- Given the newness of it all, the power of their self- clopedic scope of the universal exposition-indi- reinforcingformula is quite striking."4 vidual objects derived their significancefrom their Although the amateurtried to distinguish the relationto otherobjects of the samematerial or typo- objectsin his collection from ordinarycommodities logical category, and sets of categorized materials (exhibitedin such contexts as the universalexposi- establishedtheir meaning in relationto othersets.113 tion and the commercial gallery), this was only This form of episteme, of knowledgeby taxonomy, achievedby limitingaccess and by the evermore diz- provideda structurefor Islamic objects and a method zyingheights of connoisseurship.The techniquesof for its display derived from nineteenth-centuryem- installationused in the amateur'shome resonated piricism thatwas also reflectedin the emergingand with the authentic,spectacular, and densely crowded increasinglynuanced realm of the commodity. aspects of commercialspaces. And althoughcollec- In a mannercomparable to vanguardartists wor- tors took pride in their simple and unpretentious riedby marketforces and the commodityfetish, ama- natures,they used their objects as an expression of 29 teurswished to differentiatethe qualityof their col- social accomplishmentand affluence. The savant

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.~~~~~~~~~~

4

FIG. 15. Japaneselacquered objects at Charlesjenner & Company(department store), Edinburgh,Scotland, 1895. CrownCopyright, Royal Commissionon theAncient and Historical Monumentsof Scotland.Photo: Bedford Lemere.

d6sordreof their interiors seduced viewers by the sem- viewer could see was an excessive accumulationof blance of informality, but early on this technique was objects densely arranged.The associativevalue of appropriated by the department store (fig. 16), where these artfulpiles was a straightforwardOrientalism, it was exploited to rouse the shopper's desire. 115 The tableaux refigured from The Thousandand One marketing power of interior design and display was Nightsand visible in such contextsas the department quickly realized. The aesthetic of bourgeois life could storeand theuniversal exposition. It is this Orientalist be transferred to a public setting, F. R. Martin's ex- value that Marye signals as early as 1893 and that hibition being one good example. At the macro-level Munichattempted to avoid.At Munich,the organiz- of the total environment of the room and the micro- ers tried to assemble comprehensive sequences of level of the single display case, the objects and their media, to marshalvarious forms of textualevidence, installation could invoke the collector's domestic to summarizeknowledge with a single-mindedart his- space. A lifestyle was on sale. torical and scientific bent, and to escape the But legibility of intention remained of para- contextualizationof objects in an exhibitionaryset- mount concern, especially when similar installation ting that conjured retail spaces and that reinforced and display techniques were used in a variety of con- Orientalistvisions ofnon-Westem culture. The Munich texts-the trappings of the amateur's life had been exhibition'sinstallers employed techniques associated mimicked and appropriated in retail contexts. To with the Secession to assertthe autonomyof the his- some, the amateur's refined and harmonious groups toricalwork of art, to free it up from marketforces. 30 of objects, which always privileged the object's for- While some of the older values-the aestheticplea- mal and material properties, were opaque; all that the sure of "decorative"art and its curativepotential for

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contemporaryart-were retained,its perceptionas a minorart in relationto majormedia (e.g., easelpaint- ing) was to be altered,and the underlyingprinciples of Islamicart were to be uncovered.The arthistori- cal frameworkpursued by the organizersaimed at the classificationof materialproperties and formal elements for separatemedia. The installationtech- niquesof Munich-thinned out sequencesof objects thatcan be contemplatedsingly and withouthaving E;~~~~~~~O to compete with others and the choice of white for S 22 the walls-were highly influential.The majorityof _ r-4 e "' permanent museum installations, particularly in America,employed them. Duringthe period between 1880 and 1910, then, many of the dilemmasthat curatorsface today had 1: alreadybeen confronted.One of these dilemmasis how objects should be contextualizedin an exhibi- I~~~~<4'.r. -~~ X tion and what or whose narrativesthese installations will produce (the curator'sagency has become even more layered and difficult to negotiate in the postcolonial period). Two late nineteenth-century authorshighlight aspects of the dilemma.Although Henri Lavoix's essay of 1885, about the Oriental objectsin AlbertGoupil's collection, made a histori- FIG. 16. Children'sToy Bazaar at CharlesJ_enner & Company cal maneuver by referring to a primary text-his (departmentstore), Edinburgh, Scotland, 1895. Crown Copyright, choice being Muruj al-dhahab(Meadows of Gold) Royal Commissionon the Ancient and Historical Monumentsof by the tenth-centuryhistorian Mascudi-the passages Scotland. Photo:Bedford Lemere. After Artley, Golden Age of Shop thathe adducedonly highlightedthe commonlyheld Design, pp. 2-3. view of Islamicart's fantastic and opulentqualities."6 Historicalobjects could be seen throughthis history "Arabian Nights" is a far keener delight than that and throughthe descriptionspresented in The Thou- of the man delving into Lane's "Notes," even al- sand and OneNights. Lavoix'sproposition raises the though they contain a mine of invaluable infor- questionof which texts the historianadduces as evi- mation. Something of the boy's delight in the dence and the response to the filtersthrough which marvelous is possible in the present instance, and one mustread the text;are these filters(points of view therefore in introducing to the connoisseur and or ideologies) embracedor exposed? Another,writ- the student these relics of the past our remarks ten by HenryWallis in 1894 on lusterwall tiles, might shall be of the briefest."'7L be interpretedtoday as establishingan oppositionbe- tween the historicist recovery of context and the essentializingconcept of the work as aestheticema- nationexisting beyond time and contingency:

They come as a revelationof a lost art, redolent Notes of the romanceof the East; as such they will be accepted, few perhaps caring to have their en- A debt of gratitudeis owed to MaryClare Altenhofen, Research 31 joyment disturbed by questions of history or Librarian,Fine Arts Library,Harvard University, for solving derivation. The absorption of one boy in the referenceproblems and for trackingdown obscure copyright

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permissions;and to ColleenHennessey, Archivist of theFreer industriels.The wordart couldnot standon its own but re- Galleryof Artand Arthur M. SacklerGallery, Smithsonian In- quireda qualifier. stitution,, D.C., for locating visual and textual docu- mentsand suggesting additional materials. I would also like to 7. This wasone of theprincipal rationales behind the founda- thankAndras Riedlmayer (AKPIA, Harvard University) and tionof the SouthKensington Museum, London (renamed the DavidKarmon for their help with research. Unless stated oth- Victoriaand AlbertMuseum in 1899). Its collectionswould erwiseall translations are mine. serveas an exampleof theworld's arts and crafts and, by pro- vidingmodels, inspire greater quality in industriallyproduced 1. EmileZola, Ladies'Delight, trans. April Fitzlyon (London: commodities.In 1903 GastonMigeon wrote of the advantage JohnCalder, 1957), 87-88. Fororiginal French text, see Emile in studyingIslamic objects at a timewhen modern art "seems to Zola,Au Bonheurdes Dames (Lausanne: Henri Jaunin, n.d.), havesurrendered itself to allof thehazards of rulelessimprovi- 122-23. sation"(id., "L'exposition des arts musulmans al'Union centrale des artsdecoratifs," Gazette des Beaux-Arts,3rd series, 29 2. Marreysuggests that Au Bonheurdes Damesmay be mod- [1903]:351-68, 368). eledafter the Parisiandepartment store La Paixbut notes that Zolaborrowed his ideasfrom many contemporary stores. Ber- 8. Forexample, Henry Wallis writes: "New ideas are unsettling nardMarrey, Les grands magasins des origines a 1939 (Paris: ancienttraditions. Old things are passing away and among them LibrairiePicard, 1979), 53. those splendidarts that made the land glorious,and whose memoryat least deserves permanent record. On the banks of the 3. Zola,Ladies'Delight, trans. Fitzlyon, 51. Ecboszare rising palaces of modernEuropean architecture; and in Persia,as elsewhere, the taste for cheap finery and tawdry mag- 4. Zolafocuses mainly on the impactthat retail strategies had nificence,being once acquired, the demolition of the ancient world onwomen, an effect consciously addressed by Mouret. See Zola, will proceedapace" (Burlington Fine Arts Club, Catalogue of Ladies'Delight,trans. Fitzlyon, 77. Fora studyof genderand SpecimensIllustrativeofPersianandArabArtExhibitedin 1885, thedepartment store, see LisaTiertsen, "Marianne in theDe- intro.Henry Wallis [London: printed for the Burlington Fine Arts partmentStore: Gender and Politics of Consumptionin Turn- Club,1885], xvi). The collector and dealer Hakky-Bey also com- of-the-CenturyParis," in Cathedralsof Consumption:The Eu- mentedon thedecadence of contemporaryartistic production in ropeanDepartment Store, 1850-1939, ed. GeoffreyCrossick Islamiccountries after observing that all art traditions have their andSergejaumain (Aldershot, Eng.: Ashgate, 1999), 116-34. greatperiods (id., "Introduction," Lemiroir de l'art musulman: Revuemensuelle & illustreeconsacre'e a l'etude de l'art musulman 5. Afterthe description of thecarpets, the narrative moves on to 2 [April1898]: 27). The usageof theadjective Oriental encom- Denise'sarrival at the store to beginwork at 8 o'clockone Mon- passesthe art of Islamiccountries (in NorthAfrica and Asia) as daymorning. She was "flabbergasted, no longerrecognizing the wellas art from India, China, andJapan. entranceof theshop, and the finishing touches put to hercon- fusionby this haremscene set up at the door"(Zola, Ladies' 9. Itis importantto notethat the term Islamic only became com- Delight,trans. Fitzlyon, 88). Slightlylater in thenovel a group monin the earlyyears of the twentiethcentury, although it is of ladiesare leaving the store,having met in the Orientalhall: used throughoutthis essayfor the sakeof convenience.A ra- "Theywere leaving, but they did so in a burstof volubleadmi- ciallyand geographically derived nomenclature was used be- ration.Even Madame Guibal was waxing enthusiastic. 'Oh! It's forethat time (Arab, Persian, Turkish), or theterm Saracenic, delightful!One feelsone's actuallythere!' 'Yes, a realharem, which attemptedto convey the fact of a multiracialand isn'tit? And not expensive!' Look at the ones from Smyrna, ah! multiconfessionalsociety with the generalsenses of "eastern" thosefrom Smyrna! What shades, what delicacy!"' (Zola, La- and"medieval." The latter was advanced by StanleyLane-Poole dies'Delight,trans. Fitzlyon, 114). in 1886;Saracenic was a stylewithin which regional modifica- tionsoccurred (id., TheArt of theSaracens in Egypt[London: 6. Numerousstatements in thescholarship try to adjustthe hi- Chapmanand Hall, 1886], v-vi). HenryWallis contested the erarchicalordering implicit in thedistinction between "fine" and undifferentiatedtitle "Arab" art, noting, "Modern writers qualify "industrial"art. See, for example,Gustave LeBon, "Les arts the artproduced in Persia,Egypt and the countries under Mo- arabes,"Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 2nd series,28 (1883):502- hammedanrule as 'Arab,' forgetting that the evidences of an Arab 20. Accordingto LeBon,"with the ,art is foundevery- art,other than that on a parwith the abortive attempts of uncul- where,"and even in furniturethe most "insignificant details are turedsavages generally, have never existed," and concludes, "so workedout" (p. 512). A. de Champeauxconsidered the dis- theart of thevarious Muslim countries should bear the appella- tinctionbetween "great" art and "decorative" art to be entirely tionof theirseparate nationalities" (id., TheGodman Collection: modernand more "conventional than actual" (id., Portefeuille PersianCeramicArt in theCollection ofMr. F. DuCaneGodman, desarts d6coratifs [Paris: Librairie des ArtsDecoratifs, 1888- F.R.S:7he Thirteenth-CenturyLustered Vases [London: pub- 89], i). Even in the first majorhandbook (Manuel d'art lishedprivately, 1891], 9). The Exhibition ofMuslim Art in Paris, 32 musulman,2 vols. [Paris:Librairie Alphonse Picard et Fils, 1893,caused some consternation because ofits very title, the col- 1907]),by HenriSaladin (vol. 1) andGaston Migeon (vol. 2), lectorswho had loaned objects protesting against the use of the the second volume bore the subtitle Les arts plastiques et termand not the usualdesignation "Arab art." For discussionof

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the debate and an explanation of the term Muslim art, see ish Museum(opened in 1759; the Departmentof OrientalAn- Georges Marye, "L'Expositiond'Art Musulman(premier ar- tiquitieswas foundedin 1861). The South KensingtonMuseum ticle)," Gazettedes Beaux-Arts,3rd series, 10 (1893): 490-99, exhibited OrientalArt in 1861, followed in 1886 by the Colo- 490. nial and Indian Exhibition. The museum purchased a collec- tion of Persian art in 1876 from Colonel Murdoch Smith. In 10. BurlingtonFine Arts Club, Catalogueof Specimens. either 1889 or 1893, the institutionpublished two portfoliosof materialsin its permanentcollection, the Portfolioof Oriental 11. The exhibition brought together carpets from the collec- Art and Portfolioof Persian Art. tions of the AustrianRoyal Treasuries,private collectors, mu- London also had a shareof nineteenth-centuryexhibitions seums, and various dealers. A massive three-volumepublica- beyond the confines of the public museum, at both temporary tion was producedafter the exhibition(Imperial and RoyalAus- venues (e.g., the Orientaland Turkish Museum, St. George's trian CommercialMuseum, Oriental Carpets,English edition Gallery,Hyde ParkCorner, summer 1854), andinstitutions with ed. C. Purdon Clarke,3 vols. [Vienna, 1892-93]). The copi- their own collections (e.g., The East India House Museum, ously illustratedpublication was intended to serve as a record foundedin 1858; when the new India House was built in 1865, of the 1891 exhibition. Various authoritiescontributed to it, the collectionwent into storage).For an encyclopedictreatment and their essays covered the history of carpet production in of London's exhibitions, see RichardD. Altick, The Showsof North Africa,Anatolia, the MiddleEast, and India. Some of the London (Cambridge,Mass., and London: The BelknapPress essayswere accompaniedby ethnographicphotographs depict- of HarvardUniversity Press, 1978). ing nomadicencampments and looms with weavers.The essay by PurdonClarke mentions the 1891 exhibitionand the attempts 17. The display of old and new products from Islamic coun- made to sort materialinto groups accordingto the carpets'sty- tries and their architecturalcontexts-as single pavilions or as listic features,as well as technicaland materialaspects (Orien- fabricatedurban quarters (e.g., the "Rue de Caire"at the 1889 tal Carpets,vol. 1, pt. 2). Parisexposition; the "CampofDamascus Colony" at theWorld's ColumbianExhibition, Chicago, 1893; and the Tunisiansouk in 12. The field is well served by a list of exhibitions of Islamic the 1900 Parisexposition)-have been the subjectofseveral stud- paintingbetween 1900 and 1981: Nasrin Rohani,A Bibliogra- ies, including:Zeynep Celik, Displaying the Orient:Architecture phyofPersian Miniature Painting (Cambridge,Mass.: The Aga ofIslam at Nineteenth-CenturyWorld's Fairs (Berkeley,Los An- KhanProgram for IslamicArchitecture, 1981), 145-49. Unfor- geles, and Oxford: Universityof CaliforniaPress, 1992), esp. tunately,nothing comparable exists formixed mediaexhibitions chaps. 1-3; andWilliam Schneider, "Colonies at the 1900 World or for those of the nineteenthcentury. For a brief factualnarra- Fair,"History Today 31 (May 1981): 31-36. tiveof nineteenth-and twentieth-centurymuseums, exhibitions, and collections/collectors,see TheDictionary ofArt, vol. 16, s. 18. On the interrelationbetween museum and imperialistand v. "IslamicArt, ?XI 1-2, ?XII 1-2, and ?XIII 1-2" (London: colonialist projects, see Tim Barringer'sessay, "The South Macmillan,1996). KensingtonMuseum and the Colonial Project,"in Colonialism and the Object,ed. Tim Barringerand Tom Flynn (London and 13. MarthaWard noted that specialized techniques of display :Routledge, 1998), 11-27. "beganto develop only towardthe end of the centuryand then primarilyfor shop merchandise"(ead., "ImpressionistInstalla- 19. SeeJamesClifford, The Predicament of Culture:Twentieth- tions and PrivateExhibitions,"Art Bulletin 73, 4 [1991]: 599- CenturyEthnography, Literature, and Art (Cambridge,Mass., 622, 599). She also suggested that specific practicesand inno- and London: HarvardUniversity Press, 1988); and Johannes vations of exhibitions "seem to have been prompted by intui- Fabian, Time and the Other:How AnthropologyMakes Its Ob- tivejudgmentsabout the socialconnotations ofa varietyof spaces ject (New York:Columbia University Press, 1983). For a more and audiencesand aboutthe appropriateplace and role of artin recentstudy of the nature/cultureopposition established through relationto each" (p. 599). the "symmetry"ofNew YorkCity's American Museum ofNatu- ral History and the MetropolitanMuseum of Art, respectively, 14. SarahBurns, Inventing theModern Artist: Art and Culture see Mieke Bal, "Telling, Showing, Showing Off," CriticalIn- in GildedAge America (New Haven and London: Yale Univer- quiry 18 (Spring 1992): 556-94. sity Press, 1996), esp. introduction. 20. The field's"self-diagnosis" is a process stillin its earlystages. 15. For a study of the exhibiton and producton of nineteenth- A conferenceat the Victoriaand AlbertMuseum, London, 16- centurymodernism, see Yve-AlainBois, "Exposition:Esthetique 18 October 1996, sought to explore aspects of the discipline's de la distinction,espace de demonstration,"LesCahiers duMusee formation.See Stephen Vernoit, ed., DiscoveringIslamic Art: national d'art moderne29 (Fall 1989): 57-79. For an excellent Scholars,Collectors and Collections,1850-1950 (London:I. B. study of nineteenth-centuryindependent exhibitions, see Ward, Taurus, 2000). Some notable exceptions that outline specific "ImpressionistInstallations and PrivateExhibitions," 599-622. aspectsin the historyof Islamiccollecting include:J. M. Rogers, Empireof theSultans: Ottoman Artfrom the CollectionofNasser 33 16. Among the earliestpublic collections of Islamic art in Eu- D. Khalili (Geneva, London, and Oxford: Musee d'Art et rope were those in London, the earliestperhaps being the Brit- d'Histoire,the Nour Foundation,and AzimuthEditions, 1995),

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15-23; StuartCary Welch, "PrivateCollectors and IslamicArts ington, D.C., Seattle,and London:Smithsonian Institution and of the Book," in Treasuresof Islam, ed. Toby Falk (Secaucus, Universityof WashingtonPress, 1988), 28. NJ.: Wellfleet Press, 1985), 25-31;Jennifer Cadero-Gillette, "Collectingand DisplayingIslamic Art in 19th- and 20th-Cen- 30. Cited in Lowry and Nemazee,A jeweler'sEye, 23. turyEurope," Qualifying Paper, Harvard University, May 1995; and Remi Labrusse, "Paris, capitale des arts de l'islam?: 31. Washington, D.C., Freer Gallery of Art, Archive. Henri Quelquesaper,us surla formationdes collectionsfran,aises d'art Vever Papers,gift accession no. A. 1988. 4, box 1 of 2, folder3 islamique au tournant du siecle," Bulletin de la Societe'de (H. V. 1 1889-1901). l'Histoirede l'ArtFranfais, annee 1997 (Paris,1998): 275-308. AlthoughLabrusse examines severalof the exhibitons treated 32. Washington, D.C., Freer Gallery of Art, Archive. Henri here, his focus is on factorsthat accountfor an increasedinter- Vever Papers,gift accession no. A. 1988. 4, box 1 of 2, folder5 est in Islamic art up until the First World War and a reduced (H. V. 3 Nov. 1898-Nov. 1899). interestin it afterthat time. Cadero-Gillette'sstudy will appear in a forthcomingissue of RES. 33. EugeneGrasset (1841-1917), a prominentArt Nouveau art- ist, worked in a variety of media. For a general survey of his 21. Anon., Cataloguedes objets d'art de l'Orientet de VOccident work and his professionalrelationships with Vever and Gillot, tableaux,dessins composant la collectiondefeu M. AlbertGoupil, see Anne Murray-Robertson,Grasset: Pionnier de l'art nouveau sale catalogue, H6tel Drouot, 23-27 April 1888 (Paris: (Paris:Bibliotheque des Arts, 1981). Imprimeriede l'Art, 1888). 34. For studies relevantto the subject of informaland formal 22. The categoriesof Orientalobjects in Goupil'scollection are: social groups and societies in late nineteenth-centuryFrance, carpetsand textiles, glass, ceramics,bronzes, armsand armor, see Ward,"Impressionist Installations and PrivateExhibitions," iron, ivory boxes, miscellaneousobjects, marbles,wood, and 605, n. 22; and the recent book by Tamar Garb,Sisters of the furniture. Brush: Women'sArtistic Culture in Late Ninteenth-Century Paris (New Haven and London: Yale UniversityPress, 1994). 23. Leon Charvet,Enseignement des arts de'coratifs:Histoire generale,procedes industriels caracteristiques des 6poqueset de 35. In fact, many people believed that the supply of objectsin stylestheorie de la compositiondicorative des oeuvresd'art an- North Africaand the Middle East was depleted, obviatingthe cien (Paris:Flammarion, 1889?). Arab and Persianart is cov- need for travel. ered in chap. 7. The text was intended for experts, antiquar- ians, amateurs,and craftsmen(ouvriers d'art) amongothers. 36. The Parisianpublic had alreadybeen primed in the 1860s and 1870s. L'Union centrale des Beaux-Artshad organized 24. The Occidentalroom, by contrast,is less densely cluttered shows thatincluded Orientalart in 1865 and at the Champsde althoughit also unites tapestries,carpets (Oriental),furniture, Marsin 1867 (at the UniversalExposition). These exhibitions sculpture,and paintings. broughttogether works dispersed throughoutprivate and pub- lic collections. In 1869, l'Union Centrale des Beaux-Arts 25. For otherauthentic interiors, see the Arabrooms of Leighton "moved the question forwardin a massivestep by definingex- House, London (by Georges Aitchison, 1877-79) and Cardiff hibitions according to kind (espe.ce)and reservingthe limits of Castle,Cardiff(by William Burges, 1800-1801), illustratedinJohn the vast rooms of the Palaisde l'Industrieto the artproducts of Sweetman,The Oriental Obsession: Islamic Inspiration in British a single country of the world. This time, the union wanted to and AmericanArt and Architecture1500-1920 (Cambridgeand introduce us to the splendors of the Orient"(A. Jacquemart, London:Cambridge University Press, 1988), 192-93. "Exposition de l'Union centrale des Beaux-Artsappliques a l'industrie. Musee Oriental," Gazettedes Beaux-Arts,2nd se- 26. Georges Marye,"L'exposition d'art musulman(deuxieme ries, 2 [1869]: 332-51, 332). et dernierarticle)," Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 3rd series, 11 (1894): 54-72, 70. 37. BrigitteFelderer and Eleonora Louis, "The Constancyof the Ephemeral:On the Self-Representationof Artin theVienna 27. Emile Molinier, "La collection Albert Goupil. I. L'art Secession," in Secession:The ViennaSecession from Templeof occidental,"Gazette des Beaux-Arts 32 (May1885): 377-94; and Art toExhibition Hall, ed. EleonoraLouis (Ostfildern-Ruit,Ger- Henri Lavoix, "Lacollection AlbertGoupil. II. L'artoriental," many:Hatje, ca. 1997), 108-57, 134. Gazettedes Beaux-Arts 32 (October 1885): 287-307. 38. One contemporaryaccount of the artist'sstudio, writtenby 28. Lavoix,"La collection Albert Goupil. II. L'artoriental," 287. ElizabethBisland in 1889, understoodit as a reflectionof "the A mashrabiyais a projectingwindow with a latticeworkframe. qualityof the work attemptedthere, and of the characterof the When used as a generalterm, it may referto turnedwood. workman"(ead., "The Studios of New York," The Cosmopoli- 34 tan 7, 1 [May1889]: 2-22, 2). Bislandnoted that"Unkemptness 29. Cited in Glenn D. Lowry and Susan Nemazee,A _]eweler's is the traditionof the painter'satelier; but it is the pleasantcon- Eye:Islamic Arts of the Bookfrom the VeverCollection (Wash- fusion of beautifulthings which serve him as still life models,

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and are at once the naturalexpression of his fondness for color 47. Lendersincluded Edmond de Rothschild,Gerome, Hakky- and form,and the silent influenceswhich constantlydeepen it" Bey, Louis Gonse, SiegfriedBing, AlbertAublet, Bacri,Albert (p. 2). Objects in an artist'sstudio were rarelytransferred to Hartmann,Giannuzzi, Doisy, and EdouardBlanc. canvasbut served to "fosterthe owner's passion for color, and to give him the inspirationhe drawsin fromthe sense of dignity 48. Marye, "L'exposition d'art musulman (premier article)." and sumptuousnessof his surroundings"(p. 6). Functionaland Migeon'srecollection was thatMarye had been in chargeof the formalparallels between the artist'sstudio and the amateur's 1893 exhibition, adding that he was curatorat the Museumof home do not requireelaboration. Vever's atelierwas located in ArabArt in Algiers(Migeon, "L'expositiondes artsmusulmans the same building as his shop. His contemporaryand friend au Musee des Arts Decoratifs,"2). Grassetalso housed a part of his collection in his atelier.For a photograph of Grasset in his studio, see Murray-Robertson, 49. Marye,"L'Exposition d'Art Musulman(premier article)," Grasset, 156. A comparison could also be made between 490-91. Goupil's Orientalroom and a paintingby A. E. Duranton.The extreme left bay of Duranton'spainting closely resembles the 50. Anotherexample is thejournalproduced in Parisby Hakky- Goupil interior,although Thornton identifiesit by the title "At Bey. Publishedin French and Ottoman, the journal Le Miroir Jean Leon Gerome's."For illustration,see LynnThornton, The de l'Art Musulman:Revue Mensuelle& Illustree Consacreea' Orientalists:Painter-Travellers 1828-1908 (Paris:ACR Edi- l'Etudede l'ArtMusulman (first issued in March 1898) sought tion Internationale,1983), 24-25. to promote Islamicart and was accompaniedby dealers'adver- tisements. 39. For generalhistorical frameworks of Europeandepartment stores and numerousphotographs of interiorsand window dis- 51. PeriodicallyMigeon assessed the state of the Louvre'scol- plays, see AlexandraArtley, ed., The GoldenAge of Shop De- lections of Islamicart. In 1905 he wrote thatthe collectionsstill sign: EuropeanShop Interiors 1880-1939 (London: The Ar- did not matchEngland's, and in 1913 he was ableto report"now chitectural Press, 1975); Marrey, Les grands magasins des the Oriental collections have been developed for ten years at origines2 1939; and Bill Lancaster,The DepartmentStore: A the Louvre, and the single room devoted to them has become Social History (London and New York: Leicester University entirely insufficient"(Gaston Migeon, "Notes d'archeologie Press, 1995). musulmanea propos des nouvelles acquisitions du Louvre," Gazettedes Beaux-Arts, 3rd series, 33 [1905]: 441-55,441; and 40. Anon., CollectionHakky-Bey: Objets d'art et dehaute curiosite id., "Notes d'archeologiemusulmane: Acquisitions nouvelles arabes et europeens, sale catalogue, Hotel Drouot (Paris: du Musee du Louvre," Gazettedes Beaux-Arts,4th series, 10 ImprimerieGeorges Petit, 1906). The cataloguelacks a pref- [1913]: 481-98, 498). ace, and the "installation"image bears no caption. 52. Veverrecords his membershipin the diaryentry for 28 Feb- 41. Vever recordsattending the sale in his diaryentry of 7June ruary1898. The foundationgave money to purchaseobjects, and 1898. He mentions other collectors-Gillot, Demaison, and on a visit to the Louvrethat day he met with "Migeon,Koechiin, Koechlin-who attended the sale. Washington, D.C., Freer Gillot, Groult, Camondo, Rouart, Breuot, Lutz, Dreyfus, Galleryof Art, Archive. Henri Vever Papers,gift accession no. Kaempfen,Manheim, etc. etc."Migeon showed new acquisitions A. 1988. 4, box 1 of 2, folder 4 (H. V. 2 May-Nov. 1898). and proposed otherobjects to Vever and Gillot"that were in his cabinet[Migeon's] as well asMolinier's," and Veverwas "stupified 42. Henri Cordier, "La Collection Charles Schefer," Gazette at the greatprices that he outlined."Washington, D.C., Freer desBeaux-Arts, 3rd series, 20 (1898): 245-58, 258. Galleryof Art,Archive. Henri Vever Papers, gift accession no. A. 1988. 4, box 1 of 2, folder3 (H. V. 1 1898-1901). 43. In 1903 Migeon looked back to the 1878 exhibition, think- ing thatit was the first to show Islamicart in Paris.Among the 53. F. R. Martin,F. R. MartinsSammlungen aus dem Orientin lenders,he identifiedGoupil, Schefer,Leroux, and Piot (Gaston derAllgemeinen Kunst-und Industrie-Ausstellung zu Stockholm, Migeon, "L'expositiondes arts musulmansau Musee des Arts 1897 (Stockholm:Norstedt and Sons, 1897). Decoratifs,"Les Arts:Revue Mensuelle des Musees,Collections, Expositions16 [April 1903]: 2-34, 2). 54. For a discussion of the installationof commercialgalleries, see Ward,"Impressionist Installations and PrivateExhibitions," 44. Henri Lavoix, "La Galerie orientale du Trocadero," Ga- 599-601; and for the history of hanging techniques, see Giles zettedes Beaux-Arts, 2nd series, 18 (1878): 768-91, 782. The Waterfield,"Picture Hanging and GalleryDecoration," in Pal- lenders that he mentions include: de Rothschild, Delort de aces of Art: Art Galleries in Britain, 1790-1990, ed. Giles Gleon, Ger8me, Dutuit, Edouard Andre, Basilewsky,Posno, Waterfield(London: Dulwich PictureGallery, 1991), 49-65. Cheblowski,and Eugene Piot. An interestingcomparison could be madebetween Martin's exhibition and that of Persianand Arab art held in London by 45. Lavoix, "La Galerieorientale," 784. the BurlingtonFine Arts Club in 1885. The absence of photo- 35 graphicdocumentation would makeany conclusive statements 46. Lavoix, "La Galerieorientale," 791. foolhardy;all thatcan be gleanedof its installationcomes froma

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descriptivecatalogue (Burlington Fine Arts Club, Catalogueof the installation,he continueswith a summaryof highlightsin SpecimensIllustrative of Persian and Arab Art Exhibited in eachcategory of mediaand makesfrequent references to the 1885). Although the London show put a varietyof media on collectorswho had lent objectsto the exhibition.Marye also display-ceramics, metalwork,arts of the book, carpets, tex- notesthat in numberof objectsthe exhibition could easily have tiles-it was dominatedby the Englishmen'srich collections of beenoutstripped by collectionsin Englandbut concludes that ceramics, a wealth bemoaned by French contemporariesand theFrench collectors' taste could not be outdone.The harmony writers of later years. Thirteen cabinets and one table-case andvariety of theassemblage gathered at the Palais des Champs- housed objects,with more arrangedon the cabinets'upper sur- Elyseeswere a testamentto the Frenchcollectors' taste, one faces and underneaththem. Still more objectswere hung on the "muchdifferent from the English and the Germans." wall surfacesleft open around the cabinets.Well over 600 ob- jects were shown in the quartersof the club. Wallis, authorof 59. Marye,"L'exposition d'art musulman (deuxieme et dernier the exhibition's catalogue,notes how the modern collector "is article),"72. no longer alone content with the acquisitionof rareor precious objects; he seeks to comprehend their artisticintention and to 60. Marye,"L'exposition d'art musulman (premier article)," become acquaintedwith theirrelations and affinities"(p. v). The 491. collectoris not content with archivalresearch and now "the lo- calitieswhere the special arts are cultivatedare visited and ex- 61. Ascommented upon by Lowry and Nemazee, jeweler's Eye, plored, and even the very earthis excavatedand sifted"(p. vi). 19. Wallis's statementthat an art history could be deduced from the materialat hand is unusualfor its time. 62. De Champeaux,Portefeuille des arts decoratifs. For Islamic The arrangementof objects in Martin'sexhibition could objectssee pls. 21, 26, 28, 39, and91. also be comparedto the "reconstruction"of a Tunisian souk in the Trocaderopark at the 1900 Parisuniversal exposition. For 63. GastonMigeon, Exposition des arts musulmans auMushe des an illustrationof it, see ?elik, Displaying the Orient,22, fig. 5. ArtsDecoratifs (Paris: Librairie Centrale des Beaux-Arts, 1903).

55. Waxworkfigures clad in authenticcostume had been used 64. GastonMigeon, Max van Berchem, and Cl. Huart,Exposi- as early as the summerof 1854 in London at the Orientaland tiondes arts musulmans: Catalogue descriptif, l'Union centrale TurkishMuseum. Rooms-baths, coffeehouses, palace,, desarts decoratifs, Pavillon de Marsan(Paris: Societe Franqaise bazaars,etc.-were fittedwith objectsto displayaspects of daily d'Imprimerieet de Librairie,1903), 3-4. life and were inhabitedby waxworkfigures. See Altick, Shows of London, 496. In contrast, the nineteenth-centuryuniversal 65. The mediawere: marble and stone; ivory; wood; copper; expositions favoredthe importationof authentic"native" sub- bronze,iron, steel; weapons; gold, enamel,jewelry; ceramics; jects for their simulated street scenes or urban quarters.The glass;carpets; textiles; manuscripts; paintings; leather and lac- ethnographicdimension of Martin'scollection may derive from querbindings. his museum experience; in 1884 he became assistant at Stockholm'sethnographical museum, and in 1890 he became 66. RaymondKoechlin, "L'ArtMusulman: A propos de an assistantat the archaeologicalmuseum. l'expositiondu Pavilion de Marsan," Revue de l'Art 1 (1903):409- 20, 410. Anotherreview essay deals exclusively with the illus- 56. The collectionwas publishedin a largevolume, F. R. Martin, tratedmanuscripts and paintings (E. Blochet, "Musulman Manu- TheMiniature Painting and Paintersof Persia,India, and Tur- scriptsand Miniatures as Illustratedin theRecent Exhibition at keyfromthe 8th tothe 18th Century(London: Holland Press, 1912; Paris,Part I," Burlington Magazine 2 June-August1903]: 132- rpt. Trowbridgeand London:Redwood PressLtd., 1968). 44). Blochetnotes, however, that a visitor'scursory examination ofthe exhibition may produce the impression that "all these min- 57. Lowry and Nemazee (7eweler'sEye, 31) alreadyremarked iaturesare so manyisolated artistic fancies, scarcely connected on Martin'sstrategies of sale. In one documentableinstance, onewith the other" (p. 132) andthat the artists who produced Martininvented an object, the so-called BelliniAlbum, to serve thepaintings were unaware of theirtradition's history. as a cover for the actualsource of the materialsthe albumwas said to contain.For the full story, see DavidJ. Roxburgh,"Dis- 67. Migeon,"L'exposition des artsmusulmans au Museedes orderlyConduct?: F. R. Martinand the BahramMirza Album," artsdecoratifs," 2. Muqarnas15 (1999): 32-57. Martinpublished extensively.In the sameyear of the exhi- 68. Migeon,"L'exposition des artsmusulmans au Museedes bition,he publishedtwo othershort texts: F. R. Martin,Moderne artsdecoratifs," 3. Keramik von Centralasien (Stockholm: G. Chelius in Kom- mission, 1897); and id., Thuren aus Turkestan(Stockholm: 69. Migeon,"L'exposition des artsmusulmans au Museedes KoniglichenBuchdruckerei, 1897). artsdecoratifs," 3. 36 58. Marye reported on the exhibition in the two articles for 70. Migeon,"L'Exposition des Arts Musulmansa l'Union Gazettedes Beaux-Arts already cited. Aftera briefdescription of Centraledes Arts Decoratifs,"351-68.

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71. Migeon,"L'exposition des artsmusulmans a l'Unioncentrale "But thereare no more reallyfine bibelots;Cairo is nothingbut des artsdecoratifs," 354. a bazaar." Nevertheless, the party managed to "rout out" (diniche)some fourteenth-centurybrass objects. Vever's choice 72. Koechlin, "L'artmusulman: A propos de 1'expositiondu of the termbazaar has a more or less pejorativering to it. By his Pavillonde Marsan,"409-20. time bazaar was used to refer to commercial contexts/enter- prises. Washington,D.C., FreerGallery of Art, Archive.Henri 73. Koechlin, "L'artmusulman: A propos de 1'expositiondu Vever Papers,gift accession no. A. 1988. 4, box 1 of 2, folder 5 Pavillonde Marsan,"410. The concern stayed with Koechlin. (H. V. 3 Nov. 1898-Nov. 1899). Reviewingan exhibitionof Orientaltextiles and Persianand In- dian paintingsin 1907, he wrote: "The public has too great a 83. AusstellungMiinchen 1910 amtlicherKatalog, 7. tendencyto confusethe nicknacks(Turqueries) of thebazaar with Orientalart,just as it poorlydifferentiates betweenjapanese art and 84. AusstellungMiinchen 1910 amtlicherKatalog, 8. Japaneseobjects Japonneries)made for export" (id., "L'Exposition de tissusorientaux et de miniaturesde la Perseet de l'Indeau Musee 85. AusstellungMiinchen 1910 amtlicherKatalog, 8. des Arts Decoratifs,"Muse'es et monumentsde France: Revue mensuelled'art ancient et moderne2 [1907]: 36-38, 38). 86. AusstellungMiinchen 1910 amtlicherKatalog, 13.

74. GeorgesMarcais, L 'expositiond'art musulman d'Alger, Avrd1 87. Mediawere arrangedin the following order:carpets; arms; 1905 (Paris: Ancienne Librairie Thornin et Fils and A. arts of the book; ceramics;rare and precious objects;glass and Fontemoing, 1906), 5. rock crystal;stone, ivory, and wood; textiles;metalwork; Euro- pean responses to the Orient; documentation, publications, 75. Marcais,L'exposition d'art musulmand'Alger, 5. casts, photographs;and a supplement (presumablylate addi- tions to the list of objects). 76. Marcais,L'exposition d'art musulmand'Alger, 14. 88. The totalnumber ofindividual items was greater.Some cata- 77. Marcais,L'exposition d'art musulmand'Alger, 15-19. logue entriesare for multipleobjects.

78. In Marcais's(L'exposition d'art musulmand'Alger, 17) esti- 89. The majoritywere antique dealers specializing in carpets.One, mation,"the visitor to the roomwill be struckby the ruggedorigi- Krugerand Hahn,purveyor to the court, Cottbus,specialized in nalityof this art, where tracesof a primitiveand barbaricorna- the reproductionof Smyrnacarpets. Only one firm,Persian Art mentationpersist in thejuxtaposition and remembranceof Byz- Gallery,was locatedoutside of Germany(offices in London and antineart in the formof unexpectedsurvivals of classicalforms." Paris).AusstellungMiinchen 1910 amtlicherKatalog,273-75.

79. France'srelation to its colonies and the developmentof co- 90. Carpentrywas byJos. Troger, painting by Fritz Elchlepp lonial museumsis a topic too large for detailed study here. Ac- andJos. Urban,and interiordecoration by FranzStumpf. cording to Marcais,the collection of Islamicart objects that one could find in the countrywas stipulatedby the governorgen- 91. The exhibition grounds were located west of the city near eral of Algeria,Marechal Bugeaud. A permanentexhibition of Theresien-wiese.The Baedeker'sguide of 1914 namesthe area them occurredin 1854, and by 1889 Algiersbecame the fixed as the Ausstellung'sPark, and exhibition halls 3, 4, and 5 are depositoryfor the collection. Housed originallyin the National visible as the core of the building. See KarlBaedeker, Southern Library,the collections moved to a new building thatwas inau- Germany(Wurtenberg and Bavaria): HandbookforTravellers, guratedin 1897. In the same account, he notes that Governor 12th ed. (Leipzig:Karl Baedeker, 1914). GeneralJonnart ordered the 1905 exhibition. The National Museum of AlgerianAntiquities and Muslim Art became the 92. AusstellungMiinchen1910 amtlicherKatalog, 268. Stephane Gsell Museum in honor of what he had done to de- velop its collections and in its original constitution (Georges 93. F. Sarreand F. R. Martinwith essays by M. van Berchem, Marcais,Le MuseeStiphane Gsell:Musee des antiquitis et d'art M. Dreger,E. Kiihnel,C. List, and S. Schr6der,DieAusstellung musulmand'Alger [Algiers: L'Imprimerie Officielle, n.d.], 7-8). vonMeisterwerken muhammedanischer Kunst in Miinchen1910, 4 vols. (Munich:F. BruckmannA.-G., 1910-12). 80. AusstellungMiinchen 1910 AmtlicherKatalog. Ausstellung von Meisterwerkenmuhammedanischer Kunst. Musikfeste Mus- 94. Many of these individualswere membersof the exhibition ter-Ausstellung von Musik-Instrumenten (Munich: Rudolf committee(directed by Von Tschudi). Accordingto Sarre(Die Mosse, 1910). Ausstellungvon Meisterwerkenmuhammedanischer Kunst in Miinchen1910, 1:2), the memberswere responsiblefor making 81. AusstellungMiinchen 1910 amtlicherKatalog, 10-1 2. the exhibition an "arthistorical enterprise." 37 82. On 22 October 1898, Vever met with Koechiin,Gillot, and 95. The photographwas taken looking toward room 71, with Migeon aftertheir returnfrom a trip to Cairo. Vever remarks: room 2 directlybehind the photographer.

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96. Sarre, Die Ausstellung von Meisterwerkenmuhammed- 108. Montadon, "L'art musulman 'al'exposition de Munich anischerKunst, 1:2. 1910," 61.

97. Sarre, Die Ausstellung von Meisterwerkenmuhammed- 109. Montadon, "L'art musulman 'al'exposition de Munich anischerKunst, 1:3. 1910," 61-62. Montadon then reiteratesthe exhibition's ob- jectives as describedby Von Tschudi. 98. See AugustL. Mayer,"Ausstellungen von Miniaturmalereien aus dem islamitischen Kulturkreis in Miinchen 1910," 110. For illustrationsof exhibition installationsat the Vienna MonatsheftefiirKunst-Wissenschaft 3, 8-9 (Aug.-Sept. 1910): Secession, see Louis, ed., Secession. 331-39. 111. Montadon, "L'artmusulman a l'exposition de Munich 99. RogerFry, "The MunichExhibition of MohammedanArt- 1910," 64. I," Burlington Magazine 17, 89 (August 1910): 283-90; id., "The MunichExhibition of MohammedanArt-II," Burlington 112. Montadon, "L'art musulman a l'exposition de Munich Magazine17, 90 (September1910): 327-33. 1910," 65. Montadonbelieved that the exhibition served as a useful lesson for upcoming exhibitions planned for 1911 in 100. Gaston Migeon, "Exposition des arts musulmans a Stockholmand 1913 in Granada(p. 107). Munich,"Les Arts: Revue Mensuelle des Musees, Collections, Ex- Positions9, 108 (December 1910): 2-32. 113. As noted byJean Baudrillard,Selected Writings, ed. Mark Poster(Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1988), chap. 101. Migeon,"Exposition des artsmusulmans a Munich,"4-7. 2, "ConsumerSociety," 30-3 1.

102. Raymond Koechlin, "Correspondance d'Allemagne: 114. The phenomenon is also noted by Labrussethrough a fo- L'exposition d'art musulman a Munich," Gazettedes Beaux- cused study of Gaston Migeon's multiple roles as collector, Arts 52 (September 1910): 255-60, 255. Another reviewer, scholar, and curator.See Labrusse,"Paris, capitale des artsde Gustave Mendel, was especially impressed by the Persian art l'islam?,"280-81. The study also includes useful appendices on exhibitionin Munich and highlightedits importancewithin in which the lenders to majorexhibitions are listed (the infor- the general category of Islamic art. Commenting on the mo- mation is culled from the publications that accompaniedthe nopoly that the French had earned (by treaty) to undertake exhibitions). archaeologicalexpeditions in Persia, he urged immediate ac- tion so that the awaitingtreasures could be gotten, all the more 115. On the close relationsamong installation techniques used urgent given that English and German protestations might in departmentstores, museums, and fairs, from the 1870s on- compromise the French privilege. For Mendel it was a matter ward and in America, see Neil Harris, Cultural Excursions: of "nationalhonor." He imagined a future when the Louvre MarketingAppetites and Cultural Tastes in ModernAmerica would be the preeminent collection of Muslim Persian art in (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1990), the world, "as it alreadyis for that of Darius and Hammurabi" chap. 3. Harris observes that many of these techniqueswere (id., "L'Expositiondes Arts Musulmansa Munich,"Revue de learned by Americansduring trips to Europe and argues that l'Art Ancien et Moderne28 Uuly-December 1910]: 351-66, the departmentstores' "darkwood cases, the clutteredinteri- 366). ors, the sense of compression all paralleledthe display tech- niques of fairsand museums"(p. 65). 103. Mendel, "L'exposition des arts musulmansa Munich," 258. 116. Lavoix, "La collection Albert Goupil. II. L'artoriental," 289-92. Lavoix questioned whether these descriptionscould 104. The termhas a militarysense, of a previouslyordered bat- be takenat face value, but his essay's dominantimpression was taliondispersed. I thankAlexis Sorninfor instructingme about that medievaldescriptions did find confirmationin the extant the intricaciesof this phrase. objects themselves.

105. Mendel focuses on the incoherentarrangement of objects 1 17. Wallis, TheGodman Collection, 3. AlthoughWallis makes (in contradistinctionto the orderlyarrangement in the accom- this remark,he also notes that a fairamount of historicalinfor- panyingcatalogue) and the wall recesses used for such items as mationwas providedin the 1891 publicationon Godman'slus- the arts of the book ("L'exposition des arts musulmans a ter vases. The study referredto is probably EdwardWilliam Munich,"351). Lane'sArabian Talesand Anecdotes:Being a Selectionfrom the Notesto theNew Translationof 'The Thousandand OneNights' 106. Koechlin,"Correspondance d'Allemagne," 258. (London: C. Knightand Co., 1845).

38 107. Marcel Montadon, "L'art musulman a l'exposition de Munich 1910,"L'ArtDecoratifl3, 149 (February1911): 61-108.

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