Changing Perceptions Over Time: The Influence of the European Fantasy of the Orient on Eugene Delacroix’s Femmes d’Alger dans leur Appartement

Abstract

The two paintings of Femmes d’Alger dans leur appartement by the French eighteenth-century artist Eugene Delacroix reflect variations in the artist’s desire for attempted realism and the implantation of fantasy. Primary evidence in the form of Delacroix’s journal entries and correspondence reveal his aim to accurately capture his surroundings during his 1832 trip to North Africa. There is a disparity between the artists stated aspiration for a candid depiction of North Africa and his fantasised representation of the Algerian women. His desire for realism is ultimately only half-consciously articulated and overshadowed by the European fantasy of the Orient. This paper will explore how time, nostalgia, and fictional perceptions warped the artist’s recollection of visual information from his 1832 trip, resulting in aspects of fantasy in his 1834 painting that become amplified in his later work.