In Tate Britain
Prints and Drawings Room
View by appointment- Artist
- William James Müller 1812–1845
- Medium
- Graphite and watercolour on paper
- Dimensions
- Support: 247 × 145 mm
- Collection
- Tate
- Acquisition
- Presented by Lady Weston as part of the Sir Joseph Weston Gift 1908
- Reference
- N02352
Display caption
Müller was one of the first British artists to go to Egypt, travelling there in 1838–9. He wrote that ‘of all the spots I had ever seen for the artist’ this sort of street scene ‘would prove the most fertile for his pencil’.
The Islamic world had long fascinated Western audiences, though they had generally been satisfied with recycled fantasies. Müller’s sketch represents a new, eye-witness approach. By the late 1830s biblical archaeology, and an escalation of European diplomatic and military activity in the area, fuelled demand for more convincing documentary images of the Middle East.
Gallery label, September 2004
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