Galerie Ary Jan, in collaboration with Colnaghi and Kent Antiques, London, is pleased to present Beyond the Threshold: Revisiting Orientalism II, a major exhibition opening at Colnaghi London on 20 April 2026 and on view through 29 May 2026. Curated by Dr. Sophie Bostock, the exhibition brings together a significant group of Orientalist paintings and works on paper that collectively examine the visual and cultural frameworks of 19th-century Orientalism. 

Structured around six distinctive curatorial pillars: Figures and Encounters: Genre Paintings and Portraits; Sacred Spaces; Trade Routes, Markets and Merchant Life; Urban Encounters; Distant Views; and The Harem, the exhibition offers an intimate exploration of artistic production shaped by travel, exchange and observation throughout the 19th century. These themes illuminate the diversity of artistic responses to the regions broadly defined as the Orient, while foregrounding the people, places and cultures with respect and accuracy. 

Beyond the Threshold takes as its central motif the architectural and symbolic threshold: entrances, archways, gates, and liminal spaces that frame both access and distance. These compositional devices, recurrent in Orientalist painting, serve as points of transition, inviting the viewer to look beyond, into interior worlds, while simultaneously marking the boundaries between observer and subject. The exhibition’s title reflects this duality: it gestures both to the literal spaces depicted and to the critical act of revisiting these works today, with an awareness of their historical contexts and the asymmetries that informed them, while recognising the moments of genuine encounter they record. 

The presentation includes works of exceptional quality and provenance by leading artists of the period. Among the highlights is Joaquín Sorolla’s La Sorpresa de Zahara, c. 1900, regarded by the Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, as the Spanish artist’s most important painting; Rudolf Ernst’s Chubuk Smoker, c. 1885, which stands as a particularly compelling example of the Austrian-born artist’s virtuosity. Renowned for his meticulous attention to detail and his ability to render textures, light, and architectural elements with extraordinary precision, Ernst immerses the viewer in an intimate and contemplative interior scene. The composition reflects both his academic training and his deep engagement with Orientalist subjects, combining 

ethnographic sensitivity with a refined aesthetic sensibility. Works of this calibre are rare on the market and exemplify Ernst’s position among the most accomplished painters of the Orientalist movement; and Gustav Bauernfeind’s At the Door of the Umayyad Mosque, Damascus, c. 1889–1891, painted during the German artist’s final years in the Middle East and distinguished by its architectural precision and ethnographic detail. Also featured are Charles Robertson’s The Shoes of the Faithful, 1879, set at the Mosque of Sultan Hasan in Cairo, and Hermann D. S. Corrodi’s The Esplanade of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, c. 1876, a work of notable historical significance, once acquired directly from the artist by Kaiser Wilhelm II.

Several works included in the exhibition have been widely published and exhibited, including at the Royal Academy of Arts in London and in the major international exhibition De Delacroix à Kandinsky: L’Orientalisme en Europe (2010–2011), which toured the Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels; Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung, Munich; and the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Marseille, attracting over three hundred thousand visitors from across the world. 

Rooted in Colnaghi’s longstanding commitment to quality, provenance and art historical scholarship, Beyond the Threshold brings together artists of diverse nationalities and lived experiences, each engaging with the cultures they encountered in distinct ways. 19th-century Orientalist artists, working at the intersection of travel, scholarship and imagination, produced images that are as revealing of their own cultural frameworks as they are of the places they sought to depict. 

This exhibition brings together the complementary expertise of Colnaghi, Galerie Ary Jan and Kent Antiques, each contributing a distinct perspective to the field.

Based in Paris and led by its founder Mathias Ary Jan, the eponymous gallery has established itself as a leading authority in Orientalist painting. A renowned specialist and author of the reference book Oriental Dream, Mathias Ary Jan is widely regarded as one of the foremost experts in the field. As President of the National Syndicate of Art Dealers (SNA), he actively contributes to shaping the international art market, while collaborating with major museums worldwide through loans, research, and curatorial projects. Notably, he has curated exhibitions dedicated to Orientalism, including at the Bassam Freiha Art Foundation in Abu Dhabi. Its participation alongside Colnaghi and Kent Antiques reflects their sustained commitment to the study and presentation of Orientalist art, contributing to a broader dialogue shaped by shared connoisseurship and academic rigor.

Above all, the exhibition affirms the enduring power of art to foster curiosity, appreciation and connection across cultures, reminding us of the shared humanity that underlies artistic expression in all its forms. 

Online Catalogue