Although the Dahesh Museum of Art closed its door in 2007, its collection of academic 19th-century artwork is currently a traveling exhibit. Recently, they formed a partnership with Syracuse University Art Galleries.

From March 24 to April 30, 2009, a focused selection of the museum’s finest works will be featured in the exhibition In Pursuit of the Exotic: Artists Abroad in 19th Century Egypt and the Holy Land. Curated by David Farmer, the exhibition explores how artists in that era depicted their expanding world. The most exotic destinations for Europeans at that time were Egypt and the Holy Land, which, for centuries, had been difficult to reach. Egypt offered a mysterious culture and a monumental environment, while the Holy Land combined a historical, religious connection with European tradition and an extraordinary visual “otherness.”

The Museum has limited hours, Monday to Saturday, 11 a.m. until 4 p.m.

Read the press release here.

Note: Images courtesy the Dahesh Museum of Art from the press ready image package.