Jean-Léon Gérôme: the academic master of Orientalist painting

Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824–1904)

Oil painting by DAMSSILI, Moroccan artist — Oil painting by DAMSSILI, inspired by the same Moroccan themes.

Jean-Léon Gérôme was a French academic painter and sculptor, and one of the most famous Orientalists of the nineteenth century. He travelled to Egypt for the first time in 1856 and went back several times, bringing home sketches, photographs and objects that he used in his studio.

His smooth, highly detailed finish made scenes such as The Snake Charmer (c. 1879) look like documents. Modern art history reminds us that these works were composed in Paris and often staged, which is why Orientalism is now read as much for what it says about Europe as for what it shows of the East.

He also taught at the École des Beaux-Arts, where many painters learned the discipline of drawing before colour.

Today: DAMSSILI shares that respect for drawing: he drew for years in pencil and charcoal before turning to oil, and the Desert Rider (2025) is built on the same careful draughtsmanship.