Report Case Study 25

Expert Advisor’s Statement:

Pasha and Bayadere

Pasha and Bayadere is an albumen silver print photograph from a collodion negative by the British photographer Roger Fenton (1819-1869). It is a paper print mounted on card (42 x 38cm). As yet, I have only seen a poor reproduction of this item and have therefore been unable to ascertain its condition.

Roger Fenton created Pasha and Bayadere in 1858 as part of a series of about fifty Orientalist photographs that were undoubtedly inspired by his recent expedition to photograph the Crimean War. It is an expression of a more general orientalist craze that can be seen in British art in the second half of the nineteenth century and reflects the Victorian fascination with the ‘exotic’ east.

Pasha and Bayadere was exhibited in 1858 at the third annual exhibition of the Photographic Society of Scotland (with the title Pasha and Dancing Girl) and in 1859 at the exhibition of the Glasgow Photographic Society and at the sixth annual exhibition of the Photographic Society (of London). Contemporary critical reception was mixed but generally favourable.

In 2005-2006, a print was included in a major touring exhibition, All the Mighty World: The Photographs of Roger Fenton, organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The National Gallery of Art, Washington and the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles and presented at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and subsequently at Tate Britain, London.

In the photographic tableau, Fenton himself appears as the ‘Pasha’. The role of the musician is played by the English landscape painter, Frank Dillon.

Pasha and Bayadere is one of Fenton’s finest photographs and clearly meets two of the Waverley criteria. It is of outstanding aesthetic importance and is also of outstanding significance for the study of the history of photography and for our wider understanding of nineteenth century art. DETAILED CASE

Pasha and Bayadere

A Bayadere (dancing girl) performs for the enjoyment of the Pasha, who watches her intently, entranced by her suggestive sinuous movement. Seated on the floor beside the Pasha, a musician accompanies her on a stringed instrument. This exotic tableau, a tantalising glimpse of life in the Near East, was photographed by Roger Fenton in 1858.

Roger Fenton (1819-1869) is one of the most important and highly-regarded British photographers of the nineteenth century. Best known for his photographs of the Crimean War, his output was extremely varied, ranging from landscapes and architectural views to portraits, still lifes and tableaux vivant. During a photographic career which only lasted just over a decade he mastered every genre which he attempted. A hugely influential figure, Fenton was a founder member and first Secretary of the Photographic Society (later The Royal Photographic Society) in 1853.

In 1855 Fenton visited Constantinople whilst en route to the Crimea and clearly shared the mid-nineteenth-century vogue for all things exotic. However, despite initial appearances, this is not a documentary image taken by Fenton during his travels but a carefully staged tableau photographed in Fenton’s north London studio using costumes, props and a hired model. Pasha and Bayadere is one of a suite of about fifty photographs taken by Fenton during the summer of 1858. Collectively, these have come to be known as his Orientalist studies – a term that refers to romanticised depictions by European artists of scenes of Muslim culture in the Ottoman Empire and North Africa. As such, they are an expression of a more general Orientalist craze that can be seen in European and British art in the second half of the nineteenth century and reflects the Victorian fascination with the ‘exotic’ Near East. Before taking up photography, Fenton had studied painting in Paris and he was familiar with the work of a number of contemporary artists who had pictured Near Eastern scenes – most notably Eugene Delacroix . His Orientalist studies are an example of his adapting the subject matter of painting to photography as part of his quest to raise photography to the status of a fine art.

Pasha and Bayadere has been extensively researched and has been the subject of a scholarly monograph (see below). In the tableau, Fenton himself appears as the ‘Pasha’, whilst the musician is played by the English landscape painter, Frank Dillon (1823-1909). Dillon had spent the winter of 1854-55 sailing up the Nile and in 1856, 1857 and 1858 exhibited his paintings of Egyptian subjects at the Royal Academy. Dillon appears in at least ten of Fenton’s Orientalist photographs. He brought with him direct recent knowledge of the Near East as well as a collection of authentic costumes and props. It is possible that the idea for a series of orientalist pictures was suggested to Fenton by Dillon. Of the fifty or so orientalist pictures that Fenton made, fewer than a dozen were exhibited. Pasha and Bayadere was exhibited by Fenton in 1858 and 1859 in Glasgow, Edinburgh and London. The dates of these exhibitions overlapped so clearly there was more than one print in existence. However, until comparatively recently it was believed that only one print had survived (now in the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles). The existence of a second print was discovered before the publication of the catalogue for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s exhibition All the Mighty World: The Photographs of Roger Fenton in 2005. Gordon Baldwin, the leading authority on Fenton’s orientalist series, does not know of the existence of any other prints.

Fenton’s work is well represented in a number of UK public collections. However, very few examples of Fenton’s orientalist images are held in British public collections. Most notably, the Royal Photographic Society Collection, now held at the National Media Museum, includes nearly 800 photographs by Fenton. However, even within this large collection there are only a couple of examples of his orientalist work. The main holdings of these images are in the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles and the Wilson Centre for Photography in London.

Pasha and Bayadere is one of Fenton’s masterpieces and is of international importance. It clearly meets two of the Waverley criteria. It is of outstanding aesthetic importance and is also of outstanding significance for the study of the history of photography and for our wider understanding of nineteenth century art.