An Egyptian Peasant Woman and Her Child by Léon Bonnat (Interpretation and Analysis)

An Egyptian Peasant Woman and Her Child
Source: The MET

Yesterday, I began a conversation about colonialism in art in my discussion of José Campeche’s work. I want to continue that today with Léon Bonnat’s painting An Egyptian Peasant Woman and Her Child. I saw this painting years ago at the MET, and was immediately drawn to it. At the time I thought it was a wonderful painting, but after some time for consideration, I also found it to be somewhat problematic.

Before I explain why the painting was troubling to me, I need to give you some background information. Bonnat was a member of the Romantic movement, which sought to portray the inner world and to explore human psychology. Romanticism was a “back to nature” movement; in the midst of the industrial revolution, they believed that connecting to nature was a way to obtain emotional and spiritual truth. This became a problem when it extended to non-Western peoples. Romantic painters—who were almost all of European descent—tended to view non-Western peoples as closer to nature because they came from societies that were deemed unsophisticated or primitive by contemporary Europeans. When portraying these people, Romantic painters “othered” them, using stereotypes and myths to depict their culture as something mystic and exotic. In doing so, they dehumanized these people, failing to imagine them as complex and autonomous individuals with rich lived experiences.

Bonnat’s painting is an example of this trend. Although the painting is beautifully executed and visually engaging, I think it’s important to recognize the context of the piece and what it implies. As the title suggests, the painting portrays an Egyptian woman holding her baby. According to the MET, Bonnat created the painting after traveling to Egypt for the opening ceremony of the Suez Canal. The artist set out to create what the MET describes as a “vital portrait of two clearly realized individuals [with] a wonderful dignity, sobriety, strength, and beauty.” However, I think it’s important to remember that Bonnat’s painting portrays the mother and child from the perspective of a European gaze. At the time, France and Britain worked together to govern Egypt, essentially depriving the Egyptian people of their right to self-determination. In this context, Bonnat—representing the colonial ruling class—superimposes his idealized vision of Egyptian womanhood onto the likeness of a real person. With her open robe and dreamy expression, Bonnat’s Egyptian mother is overtly sexualized, perpetuating stereotypes and promoting exoticization.

The act of painting this woman replicates the original sin of colonization: the denial of self determination. In his painting, Bonnat essentially uses the woman and her child as living props, vehicles for his opinions.

In my opinion, art never exists in a vacuum, and it is necessary to acknowledge that creating art can be a social or political statement, even if that’s not the artist’s intent. Bonnat’s An Egyptian Peasant Woman and Her Child is an example of this phenomenon.

Disclaimer: I’m not an art historian or an expert on this topic. The above is my opinion, based on my interpretation of my foreknowledge of art and history. If I’ve done any additional research, I’ll note it above.