Travel East with the Tate this Summer

‘Leila’ is the real star of the Tate Britain’s 'The Lure of the East’ exhibition. A curvaceous woman, draped swathes of red and gold material, reclining in a harem, her eyes follow you around the gallery.

This exhibition gathers together an impressive collection of paintings made by British artists of the Orient in the mid 19th century. The Orient in this context refers to the parts of the eastern Mediterranean world which could be accessed with relative ease after transport developments in the 1830s, namely: Palestine, Egypt and Turkey.

The Tate curators once again have excelled themselves and not only created an intelligent collection but also used the space thoughtfully. For instance in the room 5, ‘Harem and Home’, an attractive screen has been erected in the centre to demark the two areas clearly. And the way the light trickles through the prettily shaped gauze, only authenticates the atmosphere and makes you feel like you have walked into a shisha bar in Istanbul way back in the day.

The paintings of Jerusalem, ‘The Holy City’, were particularly arresting. The Wailing Wall and Dome of the Rock, are shown so clearly, they have a photo-quality to them.

But it is ‘Leila’ that arouses, because it is ‘Leila’ who epitomises what the British came to associate with these wondrous-surrounding harems in East. She has luscious lips like a Rossetti and a bountiful figure Beryl Cook’s women would envy. But it is her sexual confidence that will grab both male and female spectators alike. And despite the rest of the paintings in the room giving a supposedly more realistic vision of how the harem functioned on a daily basis (i.e. it was just a place for women to congregate – no eroticism involved) it is ‘Leila’s’ painter, Frank Dicksee, whom we all want to believe.

The Orient in the mid 19th century conjures up images of exotic spices, crowded market places, plumes of smoke and mysterious women smiling through shimmering veils.

If you want to keep the dream alive, go visit Tate Britain and spend some with ‘Leila’ in room 5. You will be transported to that very place.