Columnist: Western Critique of Islamic Miniature Art Misses the Point

In a new column, writer Ömer Lekesiz argues that the Western critique of Islamic miniature art for lacking perspective is a problem specific to the West itself, not a genuine artistic deficiency. Lekesiz contends that the Western attack — or, more gently put, criticism — of Islamic representational arts on the grounds of the absence of perspective has no direct connection to perspective as understood in Western art. He suggests that the issue lies in the West's own framework of painting and representation, which has turned miniature art into an object of accusation.

The column builds on earlier discussions of miniature as a significant genre in Islamic arts, reinforcing the related principles through the reading of two plates, before moving to address objections against this Western framing. Lekesiz's argument positions the perspective debate as a distinctly Western problem rather than a shortcoming of Islamic artistic traditions. The piece does not name specific artworks, artists, or historical periods, focusing instead on the conceptual critique of how Western art criticism has approached Islamic miniature painting.