Henriette Browne was a French Orientalist painter whose real name was Sophie de Bouteiller. She had adopted the pseudonym of her maternal grandmother. Note that she was one of three women listed as founder-members of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris.
Henriette Browne had visited İstanbul in 1860 due to her husband’s diplomatic assignment and painted the city from a different lens that challenged the Orientalists’ vision of İstanbul. She even had a chance to visit the Palace of Fatma Sultan in Baltalimanı and spend some time with the harem women which she reflected in her painting.
Fatma Sultan’s Palace in Baltalimanı is a State Hospital today
Sultan Abdülmecid’s daughter Fatma Sultan whom Henriette Browne visited at her palace
Let’s have a glimpse at her paintings that depict the orient from a more realistic lens compared to the male Orientalists who had a more exotic and even erotic lens when they were painting İstanbul in the 19th century.
This painting depicting the harem was displayed in Paris in 1861. The name of the painting is A Visit, Harem Interior
A Turkish School Room
Man sewing
Oriental Beauty
Tribute to this female artist who deserves to be remembered!
Henriette Browne (1829-1901)
Here is a collection of the paintings of this 19th century female painter who also traveled to the Orient!
