Orientalism: Between Fact and Fantasy

The Met's first exhibition centered on Orientalism explores 19th-century cross-cultural encounters between Europe and the Middle East. The exhibition presents approximately 180 objects including paintings, Islamic art, textiles, ceramics, and metalwork, and culminates in a major focus on Ottoman painter Osman Hamdi Bey — the first significant display of his work in a major US museum — alongside European Orientalist masters like Gérôme and Delacroix.