Turkey's first painters in the Western style

Turkey's first painters in the Western style

 

 

As I mentioned before, in the Middle East and North Africa, Turkey was the earliest leader in Western art forms. The imperial school for the training of artillery officers opened in 1795 as a westernized educational institution. This school not only focused on military engineering, but also at the same time provided basic training in art. Because of this, the first gifted students to be sent to Europe to learn painting were from a military background. Most of them studied in the Imperial War College

which was founded in 1795. The school that would become the Academy of Fine Arts was opened in 1883. In 1835, Ibrahim Pasa, Tevfik Pasa and about 12 students were sent to Paris, Berlin, London, and Vienna to study art. In 1860, Seker Ahmet Pasa(1841-1907) and Suleyman Seyyid Bey(1842-1913) were sent to Paris to learn Western Painting. Seker Ahmet Pasa held the first Western Style Painting exhibition in Turkey (1874).

 

            

         Seker Ahmet Pasa. Self-portrait. Oil on canvas. 116X85cm.