Hera Büyüktaşçıyan, In Situ (detail), 2013
Qatar Museums, the nation’s preeminent institution for art and culture, today announced its fall 2024 exhibitions programme. Among the highlights are MANZAR: Art and Architecture from Pakistan 1940s to Today, an unprecedented exhibition on the diverse and rich landscape of visual art and architecture from Pakistan and its diasporas; The Art and Influence of Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904), the first major exhibition on the artist in the Middle East; Splendours of the Atlas: a Voyage Through Morocco’s Heritage, exploring the multifaceted heritage of Islamic Morocco and organised as part of the ongoing Qatar-Morocco 2024 Year of Culture; Ellsworth Kelly at 100, the American painter and sculptor’s first-ever retrospective in the Middle East; and the first Forensic Architecture exhibition in the Gulf region.
The Art and Influence of Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904)
22 October 2024 – 22 February 2025
Presented at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art
The Art and Influence of Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904) is organised by the future Lusail Museum in collaboration with Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art. Drawing from the Lusail Museum’s substantial collection of Orientalist paintings, and important international loans and artist commissions, this exhibition will both celebrate and reevaluate the artist’s legacy throughout his lifetime until the present day.
The exhibition is organised across three distinct sections. The first section looks at Gérôme’s Orientalist artworks while considering his artistic techniques and biography, raising questions around the wider discourse of Orientalism. The central gallery explores the dialogue between art and objectivity, and authenticity and imagination in Middle East photography during the lifetime and by reference to the legacy of Gérôme. And the final section brings the conversation to the present day by showcasing modern and contemporary art and ideas that resonate with the legacy of Gérôme, while seeking to challenge outdated ideas pertaining to geography and identity.