User:Bklynsag668/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Orientalism

Because the subject matter is so broad, I will limit my attention to evaluating aspects of painting in this area.

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
This subject matter was discussed in a recent class meeting in reference to a Henry Ossawa Tanner painting, 'Flight into Egypt' which was painted after the artist's work diverged into new subject matters - religion and palette changes. I was not aware of this 'style' of painting and when I think of the word 'orient' when considering the geographical areas of North Africa, Morocco, and the Middle East. The article has a lot of information but based on the Wiki training, it's not organized in the way the training guide directs users.

Evaluate the article
The introductory sentence in the "Orientalism" article sets up an expectation of the content but the paragraph in no way indicates the broadness of the subject matter as it does not include a brief description of the major categories, a historical timeline or the characteristics of the oriental genre. Also included should be a sentence or two discussing the major influences of this art form - military conquest and religion.

Additionally, a paragraph is dedicated to Edward Said's 1978 book "Orientalism", which is considered the genre's main resource with specific critique of the flawed (Western)view, considered controversial at the time of publishing this is not the only resource. Maybe this information should reside in the scholar section of the article with only a brief mention in the lead section along with mention of other scholars.

The article is sizable and covers many areas of the subject matter, so much so that I focused on the painting category and related sources. Missing is Orientalist art work from the Americas. They are not discussed or referenced although an American scholar has, what many consider the defining point of reference on the subject matter.

The extremes of the Orientist painting are well represented except for a few instances, for example a brief discussion on a Swedish artist Ander Zorn's, examination of Orientalism in 'Man and Boy in Algiers', which is subtle and appears to be a more realistic example of the geographical areas in which the Oriental genre resides. There needs to be more examples of this every day, in the life artistry as it represents the genre in a less stereotypical way - in my opinion. Furthermore, to balance out the article, there should be more formal analysis of the genre.

Cited sources and references were found to be plentiful, instructive and properly linked.

Due to the broadness of the subject and it's influences; one mentioned was military conquest versus religion, maybe the article could be reorganized and presented by the various art forms in particularly when discussing architecture and painting under the Orientalist art subcategory.

The 'talk' page was not as filled as i thought; there were inferences to politics that was neither helpful or necessary. The Western gaze all over that particular comment.