The ambivalent relationship between Orientalism and modernism is the central theme of this dissertation. Art historians have primarily considered Orientalism in the visual arts within the framework of the long nineteenth century. Until now, Paul Klee and Henri Matisse's separate exotic travels to Tunisia and Morocco just before World War I and their related works have been regarded as culminations of conservative academic nineteenth-century Orientalist practice. However, Klee and Matisse responded to both shifting discourses on the Orient during periods of radical social and political upheaval in Europe and the Orient as well as to changing conceptions of modernism as it entered the mainstream. This dissertation therefore argues that these modern artists engaged with Orientalist art, literature, and popular culture in order to continually redefine their own places within modernism. Furthermore, Klee and Matisse often juxtaposed Orientalism and modernism in ways that alternately uphold and interrogate their shared foundational myths of originality, authenticity, and autonomy. Thus, their work ultimately, albeit sometimes unintentionally, breaks down barriers between Orientalism and modernism, and high art and popular culture.
","abstract_html":"<p>The ambivalent relationship between Orientalism and modernism is the central theme of this dissertation. Art historians have primarily considered Orientalism in the visual arts within the framework of the long nineteenth century. Until now, Paul Klee and Henri Matisse's separate exotic travels to Tunisia and Morocco just before World War I and their related works have been regarded as culminations of conservative academic nineteenth-century Orientalist practice. However, Klee and Matisse responded to both shifting discourses on the Orient during periods of radical social and political upheaval in Europe and the Orient as well as to changing conceptions of modernism as it entered the mainstream. This dissertation therefore argues that these modern artists engaged with Orientalist art, literature, and popular culture in order to continually redefine their own places within modernism. Furthermore, Klee and Matisse often juxtaposed Orientalism and modernism in ways that alternately uphold and interrogate their shared foundational myths of originality, authenticity, and autonomy. Thus, their work ultimately, albeit sometimes unintentionally, breaks down barriers between Orientalism and modernism, and high art and popular culture.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["McGavran, Sarah Ann"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Art History and Archaeology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Elizabeth C. Childs"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2013,"date_issued":"2013-04-29T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2013-04-29T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:13:55Z","subjects":["Henri Matisse","Modernism","Morocco","Orientalism","Paul Klee","Tunisia","History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology"],"languages":["English (en)"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.doi","label":"DOI","values":["https://doi.org/10.7936/K79C6VCC"],"render_values":[{"text":"https://doi.org/10.7936/K79C6VCC","href":"https://doi.org/10.7936/K79C6VCC","code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/etd/1047","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Elizabeth C. Childs"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["McGavran, Sarah Ann"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2113-04-29T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Art History and Archaeology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Henri Matisse","Modernism","Morocco","Orientalism","Paul Klee","Tunisia","History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English (en)"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/etd/1047"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.doi","label":"DOI","values":["https://doi.org/10.7936/K79C6VCC"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The ambivalent relationship between Orientalism and modernism is the central theme of this dissertation. Art historians have primarily considered Orientalism in the visual arts within the framework of the long nineteenth century. Until now, Paul Klee and Henri Matisse's separate exotic travels to Tunisia and Morocco just before World War I and their related works have been regarded as culminations of conservative academic nineteenth-century Orientalist practice. However, Klee and Matisse responded to both shifting discourses on the Orient during periods of radical social and political upheaval in Europe and the Orient as well as to changing conceptions of modernism as it entered the mainstream. This dissertation therefore argues that these modern artists engaged with Orientalist art, literature, and popular culture in order to continually redefine their own places within modernism. Furthermore, Klee and Matisse often juxtaposed Orientalism and modernism in ways that alternately uphold and interrogate their shared foundational myths of originality, authenticity, and autonomy. Thus, their work ultimately, albeit sometimes unintentionally, breaks down barriers between Orientalism and modernism, and high art and popular culture.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Modernist Orientalisms: Klee, Matisse, and North Africa, c. 1906-1930"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Elizabeth C. Childs"],"dc:creator":["McGavran, Sarah Ann"],"dc:date.available":["2113-04-29T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The ambivalent relationship between Orientalism and modernism is the central theme of this dissertation. Art historians have primarily considered Orientalism in the visual arts within the framework of the long nineteenth century. Until now, Paul Klee and Henri Matisse's separate exotic travels to Tunisia and Morocco just before World War I and their related works have been regarded as culminations of conservative academic nineteenth-century Orientalist practice. However, Klee and Matisse responded to both shifting discourses on the Orient during periods of radical social and political upheaval in Europe and the Orient as well as to changing conceptions of modernism as it entered the mainstream. This dissertation therefore argues that these modern artists engaged with Orientalist art, literature, and popular culture in order to continually redefine their own places within modernism. Furthermore, Klee and Matisse often juxtaposed Orientalism and modernism in ways that alternately uphold and interrogate their shared foundational myths of originality, authenticity, and autonomy. Thus, their work ultimately, albeit sometimes unintentionally, breaks down barriers between Orientalism and modernism, and high art and popular culture.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/etd/1047"],"dc:identifier.doi":["https://doi.org/10.7936/K79C6VCC"],"dc:language":["English (en)"],"dc:subject":["Henri Matisse","Modernism","Morocco","Orientalism","Paul Klee","Tunisia","History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology"],"dc:title":["Modernist Orientalisms: Klee, Matisse, and North Africa, c. 1906-1930"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Art History and Archaeology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:13:55Z"}