'Who are these Arabs?': constructing an idea of the "true Arab" in Eric Kennington's portrait series for Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom

Jonathan Black

'Who are these Arabs?': constructing an idea of the "true Arab" in Eric Kennington's portrait series for Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom

Jonathan Black

Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › peer-review

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Abstract

In this 30 minute paper I explored constructing an image of the 'True Desert Arab' i.e the nomadic Bedouin in a series of pastel drawings Eric Kennington produced in 1921 in: Palestine, Syria and Jordan. I also included a portrait of an Arab sitter he produced later in London (1923). These were all commissioned by the celebrated British archaeologist, Arabist and soldier T.E. Lawrence for the subscribers luxury illustrated edition of his 1926 memoir 'Seven Pillars of Wisdom' (published in December 1926). I was particularly interested in exploring the political context as Kennington drew his Arab subjects and the status of the Arab in European eyes as control of the Middle East was divided between Britain and France as an entire knew countries emerged within the protective embrace of the British Empire such as the Kingdoms of Jordan and Iraq. I also discussed what happened to the original drawings after many were sold at exhibition in 1927: who bought them and what use was made of them thereafter?

Original language	English
Publication status	Published - 18 Jun 2016
Event	Borders and Beyond in the Middle East Since 1914 : Legacies, Changes, Continuities - York, U.K. Duration: 17 Jun 2016 → 18 Jun 2016

Conference

Conference	Borders and Beyond in the Middle East Since 1914 : Legacies, Changes, Continuities
Period	17/06/16 → 18/06/16

Bibliographical note

Impact: I gave my paper on the morning of 18 June 2016 to an audience of just over 40 people. The majority within the audience were historians and students of the Middle East in the first half of the Twentieth Century. I was one of only two speakers present at the Conference with a background in the History of Art. Much interest was expressed in the questions after giving the paper in Kennington's portraits, their place within the Seven Pillars and the use made of them by Lawrence and his contemporaries within the political, diplomatic and cultural worlds of his day.

Organising Body: University of York Institute for the Public Understanding of the Past and York St. John University

Keywords

History

Access to Document

Black-J-36574-AAMOther version, 97.5 KBLicence: Unspecified

Cite this

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abstract = "In this 30 minute paper I explored constructing an image of the 'True Desert Arab' i.e the nomadic Bedouin in a series of pastel drawings Eric Kennington produced in 1921 in: Palestine, Syria and Jordan. I also included a portrait of an Arab sitter he produced later in London (1923). These were all commissioned by the celebrated British archaeologist, Arabist and soldier T.E. Lawrence for the subscribers luxury illustrated edition of his 1926 memoir 'Seven Pillars of Wisdom' (published in December 1926). I was particularly interested in exploring the political context as Kennington drew his Arab subjects and the status of the Arab in European eyes as control of the Middle East was divided between Britain and France as an entire knew countries emerged within the protective embrace of the British Empire such as the Kingdoms of Jordan and Iraq. I also discussed what happened to the original drawings after many were sold at exhibition in 1927: who bought them and what use was made of them thereafter?",

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AB - In this 30 minute paper I explored constructing an image of the 'True Desert Arab' i.e the nomadic Bedouin in a series of pastel drawings Eric Kennington produced in 1921 in: Palestine, Syria and Jordan. I also included a portrait of an Arab sitter he produced later in London (1923). These were all commissioned by the celebrated British archaeologist, Arabist and soldier T.E. Lawrence for the subscribers luxury illustrated edition of his 1926 memoir 'Seven Pillars of Wisdom' (published in December 1926). I was particularly interested in exploring the political context as Kennington drew his Arab subjects and the status of the Arab in European eyes as control of the Middle East was divided between Britain and France as an entire knew countries emerged within the protective embrace of the British Empire such as the Kingdoms of Jordan and Iraq. I also discussed what happened to the original drawings after many were sold at exhibition in 1927: who bought them and what use was made of them thereafter?

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'Who are these Arabs?': constructing an idea of the "true Arab" in Eric Kennington's portrait series for Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom

Abstract

Conference

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Access to Document

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Cite this