Wonderland: the Magical East

Exotic wonderland

The magical East has always had a particular attraction for the West. Due to industrialisation, the fascination for the East grew in the 19th and 20th century. Artists made ample use of the Orient as a source of inspiration: luxury goods were given packaging and advertising posters which often played on the 'exotic' origin of the product.  

Van Dongen and 1001 nights

Dutch artists such as Kees van Dongen and Marius Bauer illustrate the well-known tales of One Thousand and One Nights, while Willem Hofker and Willem Dooijewaard portrayed the Dutch East Indies. Some artists mainly depict Western stereotypes, others stick closer to a realistic registration of their travels.

The exhibition From the wonderland: the magic of the East displays how all these developments are connected, and, additionally, exhibits how artists found an artistic interpretation for the East. The influences of orientalism continue to simmer well into the twentieth and even the twenty-first century.

For the realisation of the exhibition, the museum is collaborating with the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Singer Laren Museum, Kees van Dongen expert Kunsthandel Juffermans, Leiden University Library and the Foundation Neven Marius Bauer.