The Moorish Warrior
ca. 1878
William Merritt Chase
American, 1849-1916
American Art
The lush tapestries, glimmering metalwork, and contemplative warrior in this picture illustrate William Merritt Chase’s imagined view of daily life in the Middle East. To create this picture for a German patron, the American-born, Munich-trained Chase embraced Realist techniques popularized in Europe, as evidenced by his careful treatment of texture and light. Chase never traveled to the Middle East and instead fabricated the entire scene in the studio using a model and props.
This image and others nearby reveal a tendency in nineteenth-century Western art to project Eurocentric fictitious and exoticizing views onto Middle Eastern subject matter.
This image and others nearby reveal a tendency in nineteenth-century Western art to project Eurocentric fictitious and exoticizing views onto Middle Eastern subject matter.
- Maker/Artist
- Chase, William Merritt
- Classification
- Painting
- Formatted Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 59 3/16 x 94 7/16 in. (150.4 x 239.9 cm) frame: 72 1/2 x 106 3/8 x 4 1/2 in. (184.2 x 270.2 x 11.4 cm)
- Departments
- American Art
- Accession Number
- 69.43
- Credit Line
- Gift of John R.H. Blum and Healy Purchase Fund B
- Exhibitions
- American Identities: A New Look, New York: A Magnet for Artists, A Celebration of American Ideals: Paintings from the Brooklyn Museum, American Art
- Rights Statement
- No known copyright restrictions
- Museum Location
- This item is not on view
Have a concern, a correction, or something to add?
Similar Artworks
![Photo of collection object [Untitled] (Study of Heads) (recto) and [Untitled] (Study of Two Male Heads) (verso)](https://du1veq5hgyp3c.cloudfront.net/art/bkm_186561-m.webp)
