Orientalist Painting Collection, Pera Museum

Pera Museum’s Orientalist Painting Collection consists of works by European and Ottoman/Turkish artists, including works by Osman Hamdi Bey and his most famous painting, The Tortoise Trainer.

Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation Collection
Throughout the ages, the Orient has attracted the interest of the West. European intellectuals and artists have been mesmerized by this presumably mysterious and relatively closed world. As a natural consequence, during various periods many artists, either by travelling to the East or by working from secondary sources, sought to discover the essence of the Orient, and depicted in their works either the real Orient or their own visions of it.

The movement known as Orientalism in European art, which appeared in conjunction with the Romanticist movement of the 19th century, focused primarily in the lands belonging to the Ottoman Empire at the time. Even long before the rise of Orientalism in European art, many European artists were fascinated by their first glimpses of the East and by the Turquerie fashion which was the result of new relations with the Ottoman world. For nearly two hundred years, starting from the 18th century, a number of painters, some of whom became known as the Bosphorus Painters, worked intensively in the lands of the Empire and depicted the Ottoman world in its various aspects, consequently engraving those images in mankind’s collective visual memory.

The exhibition Portraits from the Empire sheds light on the many facets of this memory.

The Ottomans played a prominent role in the power balance of Europe from the 15th century onwards, as their territories in the Mediterranean region and Europe expanded, leading to increasing European interest in Turkey and the Turks, an interest focused above all on the structure of the Ottoman state. In the 18th century in particular, growing political and trade relations brought not only diplomats, merchants and travellers to the Ottoman capital, but also artists, many of whom were employed in diplomatic circles. Under their influence Western style portraiture began to gain ground in Ottoman court circles.

There had been a tradition of painting portraits of the Ottoman sultans in the miniature technique since the 16th century. From the reign of Selim III onwards many local artists made portraits using western techniques, and Selim’s nephew Mahmud II had his own portraits painted in oil, depicting him in the new western style dress that he had introduced, and had these hung in government offices.

Ambassadors and Painters
One of the subjects most commonly painted by those European artists employed in diplomatic circles was audience ceremonies at the Ottoman court. According to traditional Ottoman protocol these ceremonies always took place on the day when the janissaries were paid their quarterly salaries. The ambassador and his retinue would ride to the palace in the morning and enter accompanied by their janissary escort. When they had passed through the Bâb-ı Hümâyûn (the outer-most gate of the Palace) and crossed the first court and arrived at the Bâbü’s-selam (the Gate of Salutation), they would dismount from their horses and ungird their swords before entering. Here they would watch the distribution of food to the janissaries, an occasion known as çanak yağması (the sacking of the bowls).

Then the delegation would be admitted to a chamber next to the Dîvân-ı Hümâyûn (Council Champer), where a banquet was prepared, the grand vizier acting as host. When the meal was over, they would watch the session of the Dîvân, and then the ambassador would be garbed in a ceremonial caftan known as hilat. Carrying their gifts, the ambassador and his companions would pass through the Bâbü’s-saade (the Gate of Felicity) into the third court, where the Throne Room was situated. After courtesies had been exchanged the ambassador would give his credentials to the interpreter to be passed from hand to hand among the Ottoman officials and finally be laid beside the sultan on his throne by the grand vizier. The grand vizier would answer the ambassador on behalf of the sultan, and the ceremony would draw to an end.

Portraying Ottoman Society
European artists who came to Istanbul as members of diplomatic entourages depicted scenes from different parts of the Ottoman capital, distinctive costumes worn by the different classes of people in the empire, and portraits of foreign ambassadors, interpreters, and increasingly of Ottoman dignitaries. Portraying Ottoman Society.

European artists who came to Istanbul as members of diplomatic entourages depicted scenes from different parts of the Ottoman capital, distinctive costumes worn by the different classes of people in the empire, and portraits of foreign ambassadors, interpreters, and increasingly of Ottoman dignitaries.

One of the most notable of the European artists who worked in Istanbul in the 18th century was a knight of Malta Antoine de Favray, who arrived in Istanbul in 1762 and was employed by the French ambassadors Comte de Vergennes and Comte de St. Priest until 1771.

His portraits of Vergennes and his wife show the couple not only dressed in Turkish costume but even seated in oriental style.

The World of Women and the “Harem” as seen by Western Painters

In Orientalist iconography women hold an important place. To a large extent this is related to the fantasy of the ‘harem’, which is one of the fundamental elements shaping both Orientalist literature and painting. In Muslim countries the Arabic word ‘harem’, meaning a sacred place forbidden to enter, refers to the part of palaces and houses belonging to the women of the family. This concept of privacy and the sense of mystery it generated made the harem a fascinating aspect of eastern life in the eyes of westerners.

Although Orientalist painters based their pictures of the harem mainly on written sources, they sometimes also used non-Muslim models or called on their powers of imagination. The imagined eroticism of life behind those closed doors, as much as the idea of its inaccessibility to the outside world, was what spurred interest in the harem. European men envisaged eastern women as sultanas or concubines living in a timeless world with nothing to do but prepare themselves for their masters. In contrast, accounts and pictures by European women invited to visit Ottoman harems present a different world. Their harems mainly portray dignified and respectable home environments. However, it was writings and portrayals by men that dominated Orientalist discourse.

Ottoman Women and Daily Life
For most Ottoman women, whose daily recreational pursuits were largely confined to conversation, embroidery, drinking coffee and smoking pipes, receiving guests and holding musical gatherings were occasions that added colour to their lives. Singing and playing music was one of the most popular pursuits of women at the palace and the upper echelons of society.

Ottoman women had limited opportunities for activities outside the home. The upper-class woman rarely went shopping, most of their needs being met by servants or peddler women. Wedding celebrations and feasts, visits to holy tombs and sufi lodges, and friends and relatives, social gatherings known as ‘helva nights’, Mevlit ceremonies, weekly visits to the public baths, and above all picnics and country excursions in spring and summer were some of the events that took women out of their homes.

The most popular excursion places were Kağıthane on the Golden Horn and Göksu and Küçüksu on the Asian shore of the Bosphorus. Pleasing scenes of women in gauzy yashmaks and colourful outer robes promenading in their carriages, strolling in meadows, or being rowed along in graceful caiques, lacy sunshades in hand, were a favourite topic for western painters.

Women, Costumes, Portraits
Portraits focusing on women’s costume form an important category of paintings by western artists. Although the artists did not have the opportunity to observe Ottoman women first-hand, they could see women’s clothing for themselves, and many of them purchased Ottoman garments to take back home with them and used these as studio accessories. Consequently we find many 18th and 19th century paintings of European models or even entirely imaginary women dressed in Ottoman costume.

However, women of the Ottoman court and those of the upper classes were keen to have their portraits painted, and western women painters such as Henriette Brown and Mary Walker were in popular demand. However, when these portraits showing them dressed in European clothing of the latest fashion were completed, they were not hung in full view, but concealed in cupboards or by a curtain so that the male servants of the household should not see them.

Orientalist Painting Collection
The Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation ‘s Orientalist Painting Collection, which consists of more than 300 paintings, is a comprehensive collection of works by European ” orientalist ” painters and Ottoman artists inspired by the Ottoman world and geography. This collection, which offers a very wide visual panorama of the Empire from the 17th century to the beginning of the 20th century, also includes the painting of the famous painter Osman Hamdi Bey, the Turtle Tamer. The collection is exhibited in sections of the Pera Museum’s Sevgi and Erdoğan Gönül Gallery with long-term thematic exhibitions.

One of the most extensive collections in Turkey in its respective category, the Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation’s Orientalist Painting Collection features oil and watercolor paintings, ornamental art, and engravings from 17th to early 20th century. The collection stands apart with its exclusive focus on the Ottoman world, and although most of the artwork included were produced by Western artists, the collection also contains certain works by Ottoman artists of the period that reflect the cultural exchange between the East and the West. Portraits of Ottoman sultans, state officials and ambassadors, and depictions of clothing that represent various segments of the Ottoman society, scenes from daily life, and views from Istanbul are the most frequent topics in the collection’s artwork.

The collection sheds light to a period of three centuries of change in the Western and Ottoman world. After a series of territorial losses in the late 17th century, the Ottoman Empire began sending envoys to the Western nations in an effort to understand them better, and the subsequent increase in diplomatic and commercial relations led to the popularization of the Turkish fashion (Turquerie) in the West. Meanwhile, the Westernization movement in the Ottoman Empire, supported and steered by the palace, quickly expanded from its original focus on the military from the second half of the 18th century to become the main determining characteristic of the cultural environment of the 19th century. During this period, several Ottoman artists studied in the West, and Western artists visited Istanbul for royal commissions and even served as court artists. In parallel with the advent of industrialization in the 19th century, the rise of a strong middle class, increasing opportunities for travel, and the modernizing West’s need for a contrast as part of its search for redefining its culture sparked a new interest in the East, giving birth to the cultural phenomenon we now know as Orientalism. Many Western artists came to the Ottoman Empire, especially Istanbul, which they saw as the gateway to the East, to observe and depict the Eastern world through the looking glass of their own culture and personal backgrounds, while many others who lacked the opportunity to travel based their own depictions on other visual sources within their reach, such as engravings, photographs, paintings, and other items from the Eastern world. Their works, exhibited in Paris, London or other European cities and in several instances presented to Ottoman Sultans as gifts by European ambassadors, served as important documents about the artistic values of the Ottoman Empire and the Ottoman society as a whole, particularly in the final two centuries of the empire.

The Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation’s Orientalist Painting Collection is presented through long-term thematic exhibitions at the Sevgi and Erdoğan Gönül Gallery, located at the second floor of the Pera Museum.

The first of the exhibitions compiled from this collection was the Portraits from the Empire exhibition, which continued until 2008 with the opening of the Pera Museum in June 2005. The exhibition brought the Ottoman world to the present day with portraits of portraits and human figures, portraits of sultans, princes, sultans, ambassadors, and paintings depicting people from different periods and classes.

The second exhibition of the collection, renewed in 2008, is the City of Dreams: Istanbul, where art lovers bring together the daily life of the Ottoman in private spaces and public spaces and the panoramic views of Istanbul; He revived Istanbul of that period with its topography, architecture, people and lifestyles as a whole. The exhibition, which was opened in September 2011, intersecting worlds: Ambassadors and Painters ; He focuses on the relationship between bureaucracy and art based on the ambassadors and painters of that period, guiding the art through the tortuous paths of diplomatic history. The exhibition also introduces art lovers to the works of the artist in a special section devoted to Osman Hamdi Bey.

Pera Museum
Pera Museum is an art museum in the Tepebaşı quarter of the Beyoğlu (Pera) district in Istanbul, Turkey, located at Meşrutiyet Avenue No. 65 (adjacent to İstiklal Avenue and in close proximity to Taksim Square.) It has a particular focus on Orientalism in 19th-century art.

Inaugurated on 8 June 2005, Pera Museum is a private museum founded by the Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation. The aim of offering an outstanding range of diverse high quality culture and art services is as important today as when the Museum first opened its doors to the public.

Couched in the historic quarter of Tepebaşı, the impressive building was originally conceived as the Bristol Hotel, designed by architect Achille Manoussos. Restorer and architect Sinan Genim was given the daunting renovation operation in 2003; the triumph of transforming the interior into a modern and fully equipped museum is only matched by the architect’s mastery in simultaneously preserving the exterior façade, safeguarding an integral part of Istanbul’s architectural flavour.

Through Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation’s three permanent collections, “Orientalist Paintings”, “Anatolian Weights and Measures”, and “Kütahya Tiles and Ceramics”, Pera Museum seeks not only to diffuse the aesthetic beauty of these collections but also to create dialogue with the public concerning the values and identities that they encompass. Utilizing a full scope of innovative methods, including exhibitions, publications, audio-visual events, learning activities, and academic works, the objective of transmitting the beauty and importance of these works to future generations is realised. Having organized joint projects with leading international museums, collections, and foundations including Tate Britain, Victoria and Albert Museum, St. Petersburg Russian State Museum, JP Morgan Chase Collection, New York School of Visual Arts, and the Maeght Foundation, Pera Museum has introduced Turkish audiences to countless internationally acclaimed artists. Some of the most illustrious amongst these include Jean Dubuffet, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Rembrandt, Niko Pirosmani, Josef Koudelka, Joan Miró, Akira Kurosawa, Marc Chagall, Pablo Picasso, Fernando Botero, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and Goya.

Since its inauguration, Pera Museum collaborates annually with national and international institutions of art and education to hold exhibitions that support young artists. All of the Museum’s exhibitions are accompanied by books, catalogues, audio-visual events in addition to learning programs. Parallel to its seasonal programs and events, Pera Film offers visitors and film buffs a wide range of screenings that extend from classics and independent movies to animated films and documentaries. Pera Film also hosts special shows that directly correlate with the temporary exhibitions’ themes.

Pera Museum has evolved to become a leading and distinguished cultural center in one of the liveliest quarters of İstanbul.