Part II: Watching and Recording

This second entry involving an artist/scholar taking notes and recording information puts me at odds a second time. I suppose this is the "gaze" of Orientalism. In this self-portrait and sketch, the artist Dominique Vivant-Denon can be seen "sketching the ruins of Hierakonpolis." Denon was one of the "savants" or artisans taken by Napoleon Bornaparte to record accurately what they saw as they moved quickly through the country in hopes of gaining power. According to this blog entry from the New York Review of Books, the artists had to work and record quickly on the famous Expedition. For more information, read Peter Brooks' blog entry: "From Egypt to Paris: An Artist Prized for his Travel Sketches."