40
Nuray Gümüştekin
Image 24. Jean Baptiste Vanmour (9 January 1671 – 22 January 1737)
[1]
was a Flemish-
French painter, remembered for his detailed portrayal of life in the Ottoman Empire during
the Tulip Era, The Ambassadorial Delegation Passing through the Second Courtyard of the
Topkap Palace, 1725, Oil on canvas 90 x 121 cm.
Image 25.
Fausto Zonaro (18 September 1854 – 19 July 1929) was an Italian painter, best
known for his Realist style paintings of life and history of theOttoman Empire.
The Scribe, Oil
On Canvas, 60.5 x 38.5 cm.
In the Ottoman of the nineteenth century, particularly minority artists have been
effective. This coincides with the period when the relations with the West gained speed, and
there are mostly the signatures of these artists in the works. Meanwhile in the West, it is seen
that changes and transitions occur, the artists are in the search of something new, the
abstraction is headed for, and new movements appear. These periods can be described as the
ones in which the Ottoman has begun to recede from the Ottomanism and to be alienated from
itself. While the activities of the minority proceed, the technological power for
modernization of the army gains currency as a result of the effects of the West. Various
developments have been occured within this period such as establishing schools aiming to
train in the painting field, or giving students in these schools the opportunity to go to Europe
for training. At the end of the period, the Turkish community has experienced many serious
and essential changes and transitions, and the Republic period and its ideology have revealed
a world-view in accord with the virtues and essences of the Turks.
7. Conclusion
Considering the architecture, painting and sculpture in the Western art, it is obvious that the
churches as architectural structures have represented a religious world-view, that physical
expressions and gestures of figures in sculptures have been emphasized, and that the artists
have portrayed emotional expressions of figures. A war under the leadership of Luther has
been started against the religious belief of the Medieval era, and it is evident that this was a
crucial milestone embarking upon rationalism throughout the history of thought. What forms
lives of people in modern ages is no longer faith, rather reason. This is a perspective that
examines, questions and tries to analyze the life, nature and human-being.
In the lands of Anatolia, the architectural structures include mosques, palaces and
bridges. Resulting from the prohibition of depicting faces in the Ottoman art which never had
been introduced or involved with the art of sculpture, Muslim artists have inclined to use two
ways: disusing and devitalizing figures. Miniatures, a predominately art form in Islamic
painting, is a case in this point. By the fifteenth century, the Ottomans have established a
powerful empirorship and this power has become clear in the architecture. During the
sixteenth century, significant developments have occured not just only in the architecture, but
also in the miniature, ceramics, calligraphy and ornamentation. The art of miniature has had
its latest shining era with the Tulip period by the early eighteenth century.
41
West and The Ottoman Period
Comparative Description
The reason why the awareness of individuality has risen against the restraints of the
Church in Christianity whereas it couldn’t happen in the Islamic world may be that the
conflicts of different ideas have emerged sooner because of the Reformation, Renaissance,
Enlightenment movements and the wars of religion in the West, that the problem of depicting
faces has been solved in the West through the discussions on icons and the wars of
iconoclasm despite the fact that they had occured murderously and gorily, and that the
dogmatic rules have been much more effective and oppressive in the Ottoman rather than the
West. Unlike in the West, an individulistic understanding of art could not rule in the Ottoman;
because the individual was under the pressure socially and he had no right to criticize the
society.
The West, however, has experienced many conflicts between faith and reason,
the age
of reason era, and critical thinking. Due to restraints within the way of faith, the concepts of
art and artist apparently could not develop in the Ottoman for a long time.
For all intents and purposes, art is a fact, reflecting the time and getting inspired by
various classes in a society, various ways of thinking and faith, and various perspectives.
Being a reflection of society, art is an activity continuing its existence and effects consistently
within the historical process. An artist who is insurgent and full of thoughts and lives of his
time not only expresses the reality, but also has an aim to form it. Differences in economic,
ideological, social and cultural natures of different societies are characteristics of sense of art
in the society. Various socio-economic and cultural features of different periods in societies
play a preliminary role for the following period. Furthermore, it is inevitable that
developments and alterations in a society have also impacts positively or negatively on many
other societies. Art, however, has a role of shaping the future of a society by criticizing,
questioning and reacting to the system. No matter which frame of thought they stand up for,
ruling all kind of societies, art has to be in accord with the nature of society in which that
thought comes into existence.
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