THE MUSLIM WORLD

Paintings, Drawings, Prints and Costumes from the Victoria & Albert Museum, London

For centuries, European artists and travellers have documented the life of Islamic countries in paintings, photography and drawings. They witnessed and recorded costume, architecture, ornament, design and topography.
 
The Muslim World has been compiled from the world's largest collection of Europeanproduced art on 'the Orient'. It is an essential source for any study of Islamic art. The formation of stereotypes, power relationships and 'Orientalism' are all issues that can be explored via the works in this collection.
 
The Searight Collection

A large portion of the project comes from the Searight Collection at the Victoria & Albert Museum. Rodney Searight, former director at Shell Petroleum, began collecting art while he was working in Egypt and the surrounding areas.
 
When he started the collection, a lack of interest in the region allowed him to acquire art by wellknown, as well as obscure, artists.  It was Searight's appetite for new art that put names like Preziosi and Mayer on the map.
 
Searight's collection is complemented by a selection from the Victoria & Albert's own paintings, drawings and prints. There is also a separate section of costume designs, with costumes ranging from religious clothing to the outfits worn by royalty.
 
Collection Details

Together the entire collection ranges from 1600 to 1925, being strongest for the 18th and 19th centuries. The artists are mainly British but there are also French, Italian and other artists. Major names include John Frederick Lewis, Edward Lear, David Wilkie, Amadeo Preziosi, Luigi Mayer, William Muller, Adrien Dauzats, Alexandre Descamps, Eugene Flaudin and Carl Werner. The artistic focus is on the most popular tourist areas, including India, Turkey, Egypt and North Africa. Less accessible areas such as Arabia, Indonesia and Java also feature.
 
Works are arranged alphabetically by artist and the whole collection is accompanied by the V&A's catalogue, which draws on Searight's personal research. There are biographies, particularly on the lesserknown artists, to be found in the catalogue at the end of the section.

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The Muslim World was formerly published by Emmett Publishing, and is now exclusively available from Adam Matthew Publications.