Envisioning Egypt: American orientalism in turn-of-the-century New York City, 1880 - 1920

Dominated by studies of French painting, considerations of Orientalism in the arts have largely overlooked American visual culture. This dissertation argues that the United States produced a distinct strain of Orientalist art between 1880 and 1920 that reflected the country’s implicit imperialist desires. This dissertation thus explores the singular role of Egypt within the developing cultural capital of New York City. In four chapters that explore case studies across varied artistic media, I argue that images of both ancient and modern Egypt were collected, crafted and performed in spectacular ways to enact a unique type of cultural colonialism that helped both the metropolis of New York and the nation fashion itself in the image of its greatest European counterparts. Chapter One explores the acquisition and installation of the ancient Egyptian obelisk Cleopatra’s Needle in New York City. Exploring the elaborate removal, transport and installation process, as well as the fanatical journalistic coverage, this chapter argues that the monolith served as an American form of the imperial Roman practice of spolia, or the removal and appropriation of art from its original context and into another work of art for political or ideological purposes. Chapter Two explores the collecting practices of three of New York City’s cultural institutions: Barnum’s American Museum, The Abbot Collection of Egyptian Antiquities and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Examining their three distinct approaches to collecting and display, this chapter argues for an implicit imperialist reading of the Metropolitan Museum’s archeological excavations as part of the success of their Egyptian collection. Chapter Three shifts from authentic Egyptian objects to representations of Egypt in paintings and illustrations by American artists Frederick Arthur Bridgman and Maxfield Parish. Despite their disparate styles, both artists negotiate an image of Egypt that operates between reality and fantasy for middle class audiences. Finally, Chapter Four explores a series of spectacular performances of Egyptian subjects that includes Giuseppe Verdi’s Aida, the Barnum and Bailey Circus’s Cleopatra Spectacle and two silent filmic representations of Cleopatra, arguing that these spectacles produced an image of Egypt divorced from its authentic past to symbolize America’s imperialist ambitions.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical referencesby Jenevieve DeLosSanto