Presented at Colnaghi London in collaboration with Galerie Ary Jan (Paris) and Kent Antiques (London), Beyond the Threshold: Revisiting Orientalism II brings together a significant group of 19th-century Orientalist paintings and works on paper. Curated by Dr. Sophie Bostock, the exhibition explores the visual and cultural frameworks that shaped artistic production across the period.
Structured around six thematic strands—Figures and Encounters, Sacred Spaces, Trade Routes and Markets, Urban Encounters, Distant Views, and The Harem—the exhibition offers a nuanced reading of Orientalist art, highlighting the diversity of artistic responses shaped by travel, exchange, and direct observation.
At its core lies the concept of the threshold: architectural and symbolic spaces such as doorways, arches, and gateways that mediate between interior and exterior worlds. Frequently employed within Orientalist compositions, these devices frame the act of looking, inviting the viewer into intimate scenes while maintaining a sense of distance. The exhibition revisits these images with a contemporary awareness of their historical context, acknowledging both the complexities of their cultural framing and the moments of genuine encounter they record.
The presentation includes works of exceptional quality by leading artists of the period. Highlights include Joaquín Sorolla’s La Sorpresa de Zahara (c. 1900), regarded by the Museo Nacional del Prado as one of the artist’s most important works; Rudolf Ernst’s Chubuk Smoker (c. 1885); and Gustav Bauernfeind’s At the Door of the Umayyad Mosque, Damascus (c. 1889–91), notable for its architectural precision and ethnographic detail.
Rooted in Colnaghi’s longstanding commitment to scholarship, quality, and provenance, the exhibition brings together artists of diverse nationalities and perspectives. Working at the intersection of travel, study, and imagination, these artists produced images that reflect both the cultures they encountered and the frameworks through which they observed them.
Ultimately, Beyond the Threshold invites a renewed engagement with Orientalist painting—one that balances historical understanding with a recognition of art’s enduring capacity to foster curiosity, dialogue, and connection across cultures.
Gustav Bauernfeind (Sulz 1848–1904 Jerusalem), At the Door of the Umayyad Mosque, Damascus (La Porte de la Grande Mosquée à Damas), c. 1889–91, signed lower left “G. Bauernfeind”, watercolour on cardboard, 50 × 38 cm (19½ × 14¾ in.).
