Group of men and women camels and foot trekking through the desert to Mecca.
Image Credit

Léon Belly, Pilgrims going to Mecca, (Pèlerins allant à la Mecque), 1861. Oil paint on canvas; 63 in. × 7 ft. 11¼ in. (160 × 242 cm). Musee d’Orsay, Paris. © RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, NY. Photograph by Franck Raux.

Near East to Far West

Fictions of French and American Colonialism
Ahora a la vista

Léon Belly, Pilgrims going to Mecca, (Pèlerins allant à la Mecque), 1861. Oil paint on canvas; 63 in. × 7 ft. 11¼ in. (160 × 242 cm). Musee d’Orsay, Paris. © RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, NY. Photograph by Franck Raux.

Near East to Far West: Fictions of French and American Colonialism presents more than 80 artworks exploring the many ways that the style and substance of French Orientalism directly influenced American artists and their representations of the American West in art and popular culture during this period.

French Orientalism refers to artworks produced by French artists during the 1800s inspired by North Africa and the greater Islamic world. Their creation paralleled French colonial expansion into Algeria beginning in the 1830s and, as the United States expanded westward, presented a template for how American artists depicted landscapes and people of the American West. As a result, the styles, motifs, and meanings of both French Orientalism and western American art reflect fears, desires, and curiosities about "unknown" lands during the process of colonization.

In Near East to Far West, visitors will be encouraged to compare the visual and historical aspects of French Orientalism and artworks of the American West and reflect on the impact of these representations into the present. This exhibition is on view March 5, 2023, through May 29, 2023. Entry is included with general admission, which is free for everyone 18 and under as well as museum members.

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Hamilton Building, Level 2
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Access Guide

An online access guide is available for select exhibitions, allowing visitors to take a closer look at the artworks and corresponding wall text. Look for a QR code inside the exhibition to load the guide onto your phone or browse online ahead of your visit. View guide.

Painting of a family standing and playing in the sand of a mesa village

Henry Farny, Mesa Village, about 1891. Gouache on paper; 15 × 9⅜ in. (38.1 × 28.8 cm). Denver Art Museum: The Roath Collection, 2014.374

Native American man crouching on the side of a cliff in the red Grand Canyons

Fernand Lungren, In the Abyss: Grand Canyon, about 1896. Oil paint on canvas; 60¼ × 40 in. (153 × 101.6 cm). The Art, Design & Architecture Museum, University of California, Santa Barbara: Fernand Lungren Bequest, 1964.659

Group of men and women camels and foot trekking through the desert to Mecca.

Léon Belly, Pilgrims going to Mecca, (Pèlerins allant à la Mecque), 1861. Oil paint on canvas; 63 in. × 7 ft. 11¼ in. (160 × 242 cm). Musee d’Orsay, Paris. © RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, NY. Photograph by Franck Raux.

Close-up profile of a man dressed in white with a large straw hat tilted to the side atop his head

Alphonse-Étienne Dinet, Man in a Large Hat (Homme au Grand Chapeau), 1901. Oil paint on canvas; 15¼ × 10½ in. (38.7 × 26.7 cm). Musée d'Orsay and Cité nationale de l'histoire et de l'immigration, Paris: MAAO 9720, LUX 527. © RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, NY. Photograph by Daniel Arnaudet

Figures on horseback leaving a large brick church in the background

Ernest L. Blumenschein, Church at Ranchos de Taos, before 1917. Oil paint on canvas; 45 1/2 x 47 1/2 in. Courtesy of American Museum of Western Art --The Anschutz Collection. Photograph by William J. O’Connor

Woman standing while dressed in an all white cloth

Gerald Cassidy, Cui Bono?, about 1911. Oil paint on canvas; 93 1/2 × 48 in. (237.5 × 121.9 cm). Collection of the New Mexico Museum of Art: Gift of Gerald Cassidy, 1915 (282.23P). Photo by Blair Clark.

Young woman sitting barefoot on the ground with a basket of pomegranates

William- Adolphe Bouguereau, The Pomegranate Seller, 1875. Oil paint on canvas; 45½ × 35 in. (115.6 × 88.9 cm). Private collection. Image courtesy Rehs Galleries, Inc., New York City

Group of people sleeping on the stone steps in a narrow village street

Eugène Fromentin, Bab-el-Gharbi Street in Laghouat (La Rue Bab-el-Gharbi à Laghouat), 1859. Oil paint on canvas; 55⅞ × 40½ in. (142 × 103 cm). Musée de la Chartreuse, Douai, France, 148 ancien dépôt. © RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, NY

Woman dressed in blue draped in a white head and shoulder covering

Ernest Blumenschein, American, 1874–1960, White Blanket and Blue Spruce. 1922. Oil on linen mounted on paperboard; 34⅛ × 28⅛ in. (86.7 × 71.4 cm). Collection of Vaughn O. Vennerberg II, Dallas, Texas. Courtesy Sotheby's

Confident man dressed in white cloth standing up in a residential street

Gerald Cassidy, Midday Sun, North Africa, 1920s. Oil paint on canvas; 64 × 51½ in. (162.6 × 130.8 cm). Private collection. Photography courtesy Denver Art Museum

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Near East to Far West: Fictions of French and American Colonialism is organized by the Denver Art Museum. It has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom. Research for this exhibition was supported by the Terra Foundation for American Art. It is presented with generous support from Keith and Kathie Finger, the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, Sotheby's, the donors to the Annual Fund Leadership Campaign, and the residents who support the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD). Promotional support is provided by 5280 Magazine and CBS Colorado.