Journal articles by Davy Depelchin
Koninginnen aan de Noordzee. Scheveningen, Oostende en de opkomst van de badcultuur rond 1900, 2013
An important theme in modern history is a fascination with the Orient. The increasing number of t... more An important theme in modern history is a fascination with the Orient. The increasing number of travellers to the Orient in the 19th century was probably the most evident of all manifestations, but not unique. Parallel to these oriental journeys, a utopian exotic world offering oriental delights was developed on European soil. Eastern style characteristics were framing a physical reality leaning on a romantic escapism and hedonism. As a consequence of those connotations, the phenomenon was clearly visible along the seaside where burgeoning tourism wanted to fulfil its urban and architectural desires.
Orientalist interiors were inextricably bound up with coastal leisure. From the 19th century until the inter-war period they were integrated in casinos, grand hotels and bourgeois villas and frequently designed to accommodate drawing rooms, ballrooms or transitory spaces. They could appear as isolated theme rooms with ready-made furniture composed by anonymous people, while they could also be constituent parts of larger architectural concepts originating from the minds of renowned architects. Typical of this latter practice were people such as Henry Beyaert (1823-94) and Alban Chambon (1847-1928).
Although architectural descriptions are a legitimate means of studying our built history, one should not be fixated on the ostensible permanency of interior decoration resulting from it. Especially in public buildings such as the kursaals, decorations were anything but static. First of all, interiors were subjected to temporary requirements in the context of specific events. Secondly, as images, they were susceptible to projections, attributions and associations by contemporary viewers. This compels us to base style determinations not just on permanently fixed elements. Present-day analysis has to consider historical style attributions and connotations as well. Consequently these fluctuations of meaning must be covered by a consistent terminology. In that context 'orientalism' appears to be the appropriate term.
Still on the Margin, 2012
Book chapters by Davy Depelchin
in: A. en J. Koldeweij (eds.), De verbeelder verbeeld(t). Boekillustratie en beeldende kunst, Vantilt, 2017
L'immigration marocaine en Belgique : mémoires et destinées, 2015
Animateur d'art, 2015
The Mommen Company was a main actor in the Brussels art scene of the late 19th century. In their ... more The Mommen Company was a main actor in the Brussels art scene of the late 19th century. In their capacities as frame makers, art suppliers, art carriers and landlords, Félix Mommen and his relatives were intrinsically linked to the different stages of the 19th-century artistic practice, and therefore valuable for the reconstruction of the path of the work of art from its creation to its 'consumption'. The professional relationship between the Mommens and their artistic clientele involved a particular behavioural pattern.
Lezingen 2014, 2015
De stedenbouwkundige en architecturale ontwikkeling van Gent in de 19de eeuw is onlosmakelijk ver... more De stedenbouwkundige en architecturale ontwikkeling van Gent in de 19de eeuw is onlosmakelijk verbonden met de opmars van de industrie. De Arteveldestad gooide in die periode haar ancien régime-gewaad af en groeide uit tot een plek waar de moderne textielnijverheid de economische hoofdrol opeiste. Dat deze bedrijvigheid stevig haar stempel drukte op de aanblik van de binnenstad en het leven dat er zich afspeelde, leidde echter al snel tot tegenreacties, ook architecturaal. Het exotisme en meer in het bijzonder het oriëntalisme deden in de stedelijke bouwkunst hun intrede, in een poging oases te creëren op plekken waar grauwheid en pollutie onontkoombaar leken. Ontleningen aan de vormentaal van de islamitische architecturen werden daartoe vermengd met een scheut westerse fantasie. In deze tekst wordt dit verschijnsel aan de hand van een aantal casi onder de loep genomen.
Portaels et l'appel de l'Orient (1841-1847), 2015
Portaels en de roep van de Oriënt (1841-1847), 2015
Bibliografie van de geciteerde werken 157 Register van persoonsnamen 157 Register van persoonsnam... more Bibliografie van de geciteerde werken 157 Register van persoonsnamen 157 Register van persoonsnamen Abdülmecit I 124
Portaels et l'appel de l'Orient (1841-1847), 2015
Portaels en de roep van de Oriënt (1841-1847), 2015
Bibliografie van de geciteerde werken 157 Register van persoonsnamen 157 Register van persoonsnam... more Bibliografie van de geciteerde werken 157 Register van persoonsnamen 157 Register van persoonsnamen Abdülmecit I 124
Portaels et l'appel de l'Orient (1841-1847), 2015
Portaels en de roep van de Oriënt (1841-1847), 2015
Bibliografie van de geciteerde werken 157 Register van persoonsnamen 157 Register van persoonsnam... more Bibliografie van de geciteerde werken 157 Register van persoonsnamen 157 Register van persoonsnamen Abdülmecit I 124
Portaels et l'appel de l'Orient (1841-1847), 2015
Portaels en de roep van de Oriënt (1841-1847), 2015
Bibliografie van de geciteerde werken 157 Register van persoonsnamen 157 Register van persoonsnam... more Bibliografie van de geciteerde werken 157 Register van persoonsnamen 157 Register van persoonsnamen Abdülmecit I 124
Cultures of international exhibitions, 1840-1940 : great exhibitions in the Margins, 2015
The aims and objectives of the organizing committee of the Exposition universelle et internationa... more The aims and objectives of the organizing committee of the Exposition universelle et internationale de Gand were to boost the economic activities of the city and its surroundings (mainly the textile industry and horticulture) and to emphasize the cultural regeneration of the provincial capital. In Ghent modernity was firmly rooted in the past. Despite the Court of Honor, visibly inspired by the White City of the Chicago Columbian Exhibition in 1893, the exhibition grounds contained different sections where historicism and traditionalism were omnipresent (even in the so-called Village moderne). From the 1880’s onwards the city had invested in the redevelopment of the historical centre ‘liberating’ the medieval monuments from their ‘parasitic’ structures and inserting new buildings that supported the modern-picturesque image the local government aimed at. The advertisements for the world’s fair were also promulgating this newly created brand. But how to reconcile the local agenda with the universal character of the world’s fair? Although they hardly appeared on flyers and posters and although they were less often reproduced on the picture postcards that were sold, exotic structures were an integrant part of the event. One thinks especially of the North-African, the Middle and the Far Eastern pavilions. Persia was the only one to possess an eye-catching pavilion on the Avenue des Nations – which proved to be extremely popular. Morocco, Tunisia and the unofficial Algerian participation were banned to a wooded part of the site, near the commercial evergreen called Cairo Street. So the perhaps most explicit manifestations of the universal character of the world’s fair were not on primary locations. It seems to be a specific choice. One that one could hardly imagine being made for state capital exhibitions.
Gent 1913 : op het breukvlak van de moderniteit, 2013
Unveiling India : the Early Lensmen, 1850-1910, 2013
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Journal articles by Davy Depelchin
Orientalist interiors were inextricably bound up with coastal leisure. From the 19th century until the inter-war period they were integrated in casinos, grand hotels and bourgeois villas and frequently designed to accommodate drawing rooms, ballrooms or transitory spaces. They could appear as isolated theme rooms with ready-made furniture composed by anonymous people, while they could also be constituent parts of larger architectural concepts originating from the minds of renowned architects. Typical of this latter practice were people such as Henry Beyaert (1823-94) and Alban Chambon (1847-1928).
Although architectural descriptions are a legitimate means of studying our built history, one should not be fixated on the ostensible permanency of interior decoration resulting from it. Especially in public buildings such as the kursaals, decorations were anything but static. First of all, interiors were subjected to temporary requirements in the context of specific events. Secondly, as images, they were susceptible to projections, attributions and associations by contemporary viewers. This compels us to base style determinations not just on permanently fixed elements. Present-day analysis has to consider historical style attributions and connotations as well. Consequently these fluctuations of meaning must be covered by a consistent terminology. In that context 'orientalism' appears to be the appropriate term.
Book chapters by Davy Depelchin
Orientalist interiors were inextricably bound up with coastal leisure. From the 19th century until the inter-war period they were integrated in casinos, grand hotels and bourgeois villas and frequently designed to accommodate drawing rooms, ballrooms or transitory spaces. They could appear as isolated theme rooms with ready-made furniture composed by anonymous people, while they could also be constituent parts of larger architectural concepts originating from the minds of renowned architects. Typical of this latter practice were people such as Henry Beyaert (1823-94) and Alban Chambon (1847-1928).
Although architectural descriptions are a legitimate means of studying our built history, one should not be fixated on the ostensible permanency of interior decoration resulting from it. Especially in public buildings such as the kursaals, decorations were anything but static. First of all, interiors were subjected to temporary requirements in the context of specific events. Secondly, as images, they were susceptible to projections, attributions and associations by contemporary viewers. This compels us to base style determinations not just on permanently fixed elements. Present-day analysis has to consider historical style attributions and connotations as well. Consequently these fluctuations of meaning must be covered by a consistent terminology. In that context 'orientalism' appears to be the appropriate term.
The general validity of this argument has, after a sustained polemic, lost some of its impact. Meanwhile, the majority of researchers now recognize that the phenomenon is essentially more complex than Said asserted. Orientalism has political, social, psychological, academic and artistic elements and, as such, can assume many forms. The term Orientalism can be used as follows: to indicate an imperialist political policy; as a label for a certain kind of wanderlust; as a name for a form of escapism; an indicator of a scientific interest in oriental affairs; or to denote an artistic theme that enjoyed great popularity in the nineteenth century. Of all these manifestations, the role played by the arts is perhaps the most interesting. While one can, indeed, view Orientalist images as end products that encapsulate many of the aforementioned elements, it is also true that they can be presented as catalysts for other attributes of Orientalism.
It is precisely this interdependence that complicates the phenomenon for present-day art historians, and which also contributed to the immense popularity of artistic Orientalism during the nineteenth century. As a result of the predilection for the trends that emerged in the neighbouring superpowers, Orientalist painting had an undeniably strong presence within the young civic state of Belgium, which was founded in 1830. Following the example of predominantly French pioneers, many Belgian artists also travelled to the Orient. Constantinople, the Levant, Egypt, Algeria or Morocco: the destinations varied depending upon the traveller and his precise objectives. All of these undertakings contributed to the unveiling of a world that had hitherto only existed in the imaginations of most Belgians.
When artists returned from the Orient, their portfolios were usually overflowing with sketches and studies. Yet they only tended to start painting once they had gathered this material around them in their studios. But although the artists had made their sketches d’après nature, the images that they ultimately set down on canvas or panel were, by definition, reasoned constructions. They were the result of the interplay between expectations, perceptions and memories. Furthermore, the complex images that the authors had in mind needed to be reconciled with the laws and aesthetics governing the medium in which they intended to work.
While it is true to say that the artistic practices of the day changed the face of Orientalism, it is also the case that the subject matter gradually made a contribution to the art of painting. Orientalism called the hierarchy of the genres into question, brought the constraints of studio practice to light – even though most of the artists refused to see this – and allowed artists to apprehend the tension between perceived reality, on the one hand, and the conventional pictorial schemes and aesthetic standards on the other. In addition, the Orientalist theme provided Belgian artists with their own opportunity to refresh the imagery. In the case of Jean Portaels (1818–95), the artist central to this book, the Orient was initially the place that could help him, as an historical painter, to bring greater truth to Biblical topics. Yet when asked to describe how, in practice, this would happen, there was no single answer. While some of his colleagues hoped to find a visual equivalent for the modern biblical exegesis, Portaels remained adamant that the quest for renewal should not compromise the legibility of the image. The artist himself was striving to attain equilibrium in his compositions by deliberately writing them into art history.
On his first trip to the Middle East (1845–46), Portaels realized that the Orient would be more than a source of inspiration for religious art, and that it possessed a different potential. As a result of this awareness, the artist’s genre painting also became part of the Orientalist oeuvre, which he practiced throughout his lifetime. The genre, considered ‘inferior’ at the beginning of the century, was viewed as thoroughly contemporary by 1840–50. These were the paintings that, with their generally accessible subject matter and more convenient formats, led to the blossoming of Orientalism in the second half of the nineteenth century. Artists were aware that in order to make a living from their art, they should tailor their approach to their audience. In this, they were certainly encouraged by art dealers and printmakers. Within a specialized and professional art market, few could afford to only paint historical pieces for salons.
That Orientalism appealed to bourgeois tastes helps to explain why large quantities of Eastern-inspired artworks continued to be produced throughout the nineteenth century. Yet the art world itself was also partly responsible. Through both images and words, artist-travellers won their colleagues over with their passion for the Orient. In this context, Jean Portaels was extremely important in Belgium. By combining his artist practice with a successful teaching career, he influenced many young colleagues. Since he also actively encouraged his students to travel and acquire international experience, it is hardly surprising that the names of several of his students adorn the lists of Belgian travellers to the Orient.
It is because of Jean Portaels’ key role in the introduction and spread of Orientalism in Belgium that we take his life and work as a starting point for this book’s analysis of nineteenth-century Belgian painters and the Orientalist praxis. In this study, we successively consider what motivated the artists to turn their gaze eastwards, how they physically tackled the journey to the Orient, and the manner in which they subsequently conveyed their impressions through pictures. Finally, we also look at the mechanisms by which these images reached both young artists and the art-loving Belgian public.
In Portaels, Vilvoordenaar en wereldburger gaan we in op de kosmopolitische identiteit van de kunstenaar, maar besteden we ook uitgebreid aandacht aan waar het voor Portaels allemaal begon: Vilvoorde.