Just a random image and a queote from a FOrbes magazine of a few yeras ago:
“For decades Orientalism was an art market backwater. Paintings by a cadre of Western artists, including, most famously, Delacroix, Renoir and Matisse (who gained acclaim mainly for their non-Orientalist subjects), portrayed exotic or eroticized scenes of Middle Eastern life: scantily clad nubile women, bare-bottomed snake charmers and stoned-out turbaned men splayed around hookahs.
But over the last few years the art world has done an about-face, with collectors, largely from the Middle East, driving up prices and prompting scholars to take a second look. The King of Morocco, the Sultan of Oman and the Qatari Emir all have substantial Orientalist collections. To these new collectors, the works constitute their heritage, a living history captured by respectful, awed travelers. In 2008 Orientalist works grossed $70 million at auction worldwide, an eightfold increase from 2004, partly a reflection of the auction houses’ decision to add more sales to the calendar. In March Sotheby’s ( BID - news - people ) introduced its first Orientalist sale in Doha, Qatar. Last May an Orientalist session at Sotheby’s in London brought in $16 million for 90 works, setting records for ten artists.” What do you think will happent to market for orientalist art works after the Tunisia, Tahrir and related incidents in the middle-east?