Popular in Arts and Humanities

Arts and Humanities

Titus Quinctius Flamininus’ “Italian triumph”

McGill University Michael Fronda

Arts and Humanities

Lincoln and the Jews

Brandeis University Jonathan Sarna

Arts and Humanities

Amputations and Convalescence

University of Western Australia Emily Brink

Art

Drawing on the past: Palladio, his precursors and knowledge of ancient architecture

University of Birmingham David Hemsoll

Art

Language, Sound, and Image in Wallace Berman’s Aleph, 1956–1966

University of San Diego Chelsea Behle Fralick

Arts and Humanities

Early Modern Natural Law Theories

University of Copenhagen Knud Haakonssen

Osman Hamdi Bey’s At the Mosque Door and the Urgency of Painting

View more insights in Arts and Humanities - Art - Art History

View more figures from University of Massachusetts at Amherst

View the page of Gulru Cakmak

Read the Study

Gülru Çakmak reveals how 19th-century artists in the Middle East and North Africa reckoned with new tools, materials, and tastes from local perspectives.

Image courtesy of interviewee. May 20, 2024

Generating Workspace

Export as PDF

This video video discusses Osman Hamdi, a significant Ottoman intellectual and artist born in Istanbul in 1843 who died in 1910. He contributed considerably to the cultural scene of the Ottoman Empire as a bureaucrat, director of the Museum of Antiquities, founder of the School of Fine Arts, and pioneering archaeologist while maintaining an active painting practice for five decades.

Hamdi's artwork, especially the oil painting "At the Mosque Door," reflects a blend of tradition and modernity. In the context of the 19th-century Ottoman society, oil painting represented a move towards modernity and Europeanization. The painting features ordinary characters outside a mosque, depicting a nuanced portrayal of Ottoman life and identity. Unlike typical Orientalist imagery, which often exoticized Eastern cultures, Hamdi's works challenge stereotypes and offer thoughtful reinterpretations.

This video video also contrasts Hamdi’s approach to painting with that of contemporaries like Claude Monet. While Monet aimed to capture the immediacy of a fleeting moment, Hamdi saw painting as a medium that synthesizes long-term historical processes. In "At the Mosque Door," Hamdi embeds multiple self-portraits within the scene, emphasizing the interconnectedness of personal and collective history.

Through this work, Hamdi seeks to engage viewers in recognizing the historical depth of their present. Ultimately, he portrays oil painting as a powerful tool for conveying deeper truths about identity and heritage, contrasting with Monet's focus on the transient moment. The discussion highlights how both artists grappled with the role and capabilities of oil painting in a rapidly changing world at the end of the 19th century.

Language:

Export as PDF

X-TIMESTAMP-MAP:LOCAL=00:00:00.000,MPEGTS=900000

00:00.175 --> 00:04.245
Osman Debe was a prominent Ottoman intellectual,

00:04.905 --> 00:07.125
an artist who lived during the late 19th

00:07.185 --> 00:08.605
and early 20th centuries.

00:09.265 --> 00:11.925
Um, he was born in Istanbul, the capital

00:12.025 --> 00:16.085
of the Ottoman Empire in 1843, and he died in 1910.

00:17.095 --> 00:20.435
And he played a significant role in the cultural

00:20.435 --> 00:22.715
and artistic landscape of the Ottoman Empire.

00:22.975 --> 00:25.755
He wore many hats in his lifetime, we could say.

00:26.375 --> 00:28.675
Um, he was an important bureaucrat.

00:29.255 --> 00:31.635
He became the director of the Museum

00:31.695 --> 00:33.555
of Antiquities in Istanbul.

00:34.415 --> 00:38.555
Um, he also founded the School of Fine Arts in Istanbul.

00:39.535 --> 00:41.315
He was a reformist bureaucrat

00:41.615 --> 00:43.875
who was instrumental in the implementation

00:43.895 --> 00:45.395
of the antiquities laws,

00:45.775 --> 00:48.355
and he himself was a pioneering archeologist.

00:49.055 --> 00:51.475
Now, what is very important to me is that in addition

00:51.475 --> 00:55.155
to these positions, he sustained a painting practice that's,

00:55.155 --> 00:58.355
that lasted five decades from the 1860s

00:58.805 --> 01:00.635
until his death in 1910.

01:01.775 --> 01:04.675
Now, when we think about oil painting,

01:05.295 --> 01:07.715
to the 21st century eyes, the medium

01:07.735 --> 01:11.075
of oil painting on canvas may seem outmoded.

01:11.575 --> 01:14.715
But if we reflect back to,

01:14.715 --> 01:16.635
the 19th century Ottoman context

01:17.495 --> 01:20.115
for the Ottoman modernizing intelligentsia,

01:20.255 --> 01:23.755
of which Hamdi was a member, this was a radically new

01:23.855 --> 01:25.075
and innovative medium.

01:25.255 --> 01:27.235
So the medium of oil painting on canvas,

01:27.615 --> 01:29.795
and it was strongly associated with modernity

01:29.895 --> 01:31.155
and with Europeanization.

01:31.815 --> 01:33.355
So let's keep that in mind.

01:34.095 --> 01:36.955
Um, prospective drawing was a relatively recent methods

01:37.165 --> 01:38.395
introduced at the first

01:39.315 --> 01:41.395
engineering school in Istanbul in the first half

01:41.395 --> 01:44.155
of the 19th century, where it was taught by German

01:44.215 --> 01:45.315
and French instructors.

01:46.015 --> 01:47.275
And the first ottman artist

01:47.375 --> 01:50.235
who practiced oil painting on easel came from the ranks

01:50.235 --> 01:52.595
of the military in the 1820s and thirties.

01:52.775 --> 01:56.155
For that reason, now Hamdi belongs to the next generation

01:56.155 --> 01:57.595
of artists, and

01:57.595 --> 01:59.035
moreover, he had an opportunity

01:59.175 --> 02:02.555
to receive painting training in Paris in the studio

02:02.695 --> 02:05.835
of the French painter Jean Eron, in the 1860s.

02:07.175 --> 02:11.635
Now, when we examine his works, for example,

02:11.935 --> 02:13.715
at the mosque door that,

02:13.795 --> 02:17.155
I have written about in the chapter that you mentioned,

02:17.215 --> 02:20.715
we encounter what is commonly termed as orientalist imagery.

02:21.415 --> 02:24.515
Now, Orientalism, in its broader sense, refers

02:24.515 --> 02:27.275
to the depiction of Eastern cultures by western artists,

02:28.125 --> 02:31.315
often through a lens of ex exoticism and romanticization.

02:32.635 --> 02:36.455
Um, but when we look at orientalist imagery in the context

02:36.555 --> 02:39.175
of Osman harm, this works, we are referring to a style

02:39.205 --> 02:43.795
that depicts, differently than the

02:44.395 --> 02:46.555
expected ex exoticization of the orient.

02:47.855 --> 02:50.955
Uh, while some orientalist works perpetuated stereotypes

02:50.955 --> 02:54.315
and misconceptions about Eastern cultures in Hyundai based

02:54.555 --> 02:57.275
paintings, including at the mosque door,

02:57.275 --> 02:58.715
we see a challenge,

02:59.125 --> 03:00.845
Reinterpretation of these conventions.

03:01.505 --> 03:05.005
Um, he infuses his works with an intelligence

03:05.115 --> 03:06.685
that we think some of these

03:07.275 --> 03:10.125
established patterns established visual patterns

03:10.125 --> 03:11.845
of depicting the Oriental other.

03:12.385 --> 03:13.765
And in this context, it's crucial

03:13.765 --> 03:16.645
to understand the terms Ottoman and Turkish as well.

03:17.185 --> 03:20.085
Now, the Ottoman Empire will West Multicultural

03:20.085 --> 03:21.525
and Ma Ethnic Empire.

03:22.065 --> 03:25.205
It spans across three continents with its capital in,

03:25.545 --> 03:26.805
Istanbul today.

03:27.295 --> 03:31.725
While Turkish primarily refers to the dominant ethnic group

03:32.425 --> 03:35.485
in the Ottoman Empire, the term ottman

03:35.625 --> 03:38.125
and encompasses the broader cultural, political

03:38.145 --> 03:40.845
and social context of the empire's,

03:41.355 --> 03:43.725
diverse populations and territories.

03:44.585 --> 03:47.485
So when we look at Osman Ham, these art in the second half

03:47.485 --> 03:49.165
of the 19th century and the first decade

03:49.225 --> 03:52.245
of the 20th century, what we see is a reflection

03:52.245 --> 03:54.365
of this rich tapestry of influences

03:55.205 --> 03:58.165
offering a nuanced portrayal of ottoman life and identity,

03:58.385 --> 04:00.245
but also a very intelligent

04:00.945 --> 04:04.245
and thoughtful reflection on modernity.

04:04.245 --> 04:07.645
What is modernity? This is a captivating at the mosque.

04:07.645 --> 04:10.245
Dar is a captivating painting by Osman harm debe

04:10.555 --> 04:13.845
that he painted, in the early 1890s.

04:14.545 --> 04:17.005
And it's initially seems like a

04:17.005 --> 04:18.205
very straightforward painting.

04:18.345 --> 04:21.965
It looks like it's an everyday life in front of a mosque,

04:22.385 --> 04:24.645
featuring a group of everyday types,

04:25.045 --> 04:26.525
everyday characters engaged in

04:26.525 --> 04:28.045
conversation and contemplation.

04:28.545 --> 04:32.685
Uh, we see ladies there, street urchins,

04:32.945 --> 04:35.245
man belonging to different social classes,

04:35.245 --> 04:37.485
different ethnic groups, different backgrounds.

04:38.465 --> 04:42.055
Um, however, there is much more than

04:42.055 --> 04:44.615
what meets the eye about the context.

04:44.715 --> 04:46.495
Before I go into unpacking the painting

04:46.515 --> 04:49.495
for you a little bit more, in terms of historical context,

04:50.235 --> 04:53.375
the painting was created in the second half

04:53.375 --> 04:56.655
of the 19th century, which was a period of profound change

04:56.755 --> 04:58.495
and transition in the Ottoman Empire.

04:58.955 --> 05:02.495
It was marked by various efforts to modernize

05:02.555 --> 05:06.015
and reform the society, while grappling with the challenges

05:06.015 --> 05:09.215
of maintaining cultural identity and tradition.

05:09.915 --> 05:13.705
So when we look at the painting,

05:13.815 --> 05:17.065
with this information in, mind,

05:18.085 --> 05:20.945
within the broader context of ham's body of work,

05:21.645 --> 05:22.825
the painting is relevant

05:22.825 --> 05:25.585
to contemporary discussions surrounding not only cultural

05:25.825 --> 05:27.985
heritage and identity, but also modernity.

05:28.965 --> 05:30.305
And here what I want

05:30.305 --> 05:32.305
to emphasize is Hamdi is inquiring the role

05:32.445 --> 05:35.185
and function of oil painting in modern times.

05:36.045 --> 05:38.985
Now, first of all, I want to give a brief description of

05:38.985 --> 05:40.505
what we see when we look at the painting.

05:41.085 --> 05:45.505
Uh, we see a towering building entrance

05:45.565 --> 05:47.785
to a mosque, right, a temple.

05:48.725 --> 05:50.905
And, the human beings

05:50.905 --> 05:53.305
that are populating it are in front of it.

05:53.605 --> 05:55.265
And if you look at the painting,

05:55.265 --> 05:59.325
the human beings are fairly small compared to how large, how

05:59.385 --> 06:01.405
how expansive the building facade is.

06:02.145 --> 06:06.645
Now, Hamdi has, looked at various actual mosques,

06:07.065 --> 06:08.325
not only in Istanbul,

06:08.325 --> 06:11.525
but in the former ottoman capital of Bura,

06:11.855 --> 06:15.565
which was very important for 19th century

06:16.125 --> 06:19.805
ottoman narratives of a bygone golden age.

06:20.145 --> 06:24.245
So the period of Ottoman empires rise to world dominance,

06:24.255 --> 06:27.725
let's say, was marked by,

06:28.345 --> 06:31.845
its capital moving its evangel moving, the capital

06:31.845 --> 06:34.885
that it had built from to the west of the country.

06:35.025 --> 06:38.085
But Bursaw was this golden age capital,

06:38.665 --> 06:41.725
and the buildings there in the 19th century, those 15th,

06:41.725 --> 06:44.125
16th century buildings were going through restoration.

06:44.665 --> 06:46.085
Um, so a lot

06:46.085 --> 06:48.285
of people had turned their attention to those buildings there.

06:48.665 --> 06:50.605
So Hyundai in particular,

06:50.665 --> 06:53.125
is looking very carefully at a mosque called

06:53.345 --> 06:54.765
Moraia Mosque in Bura.

06:55.385 --> 06:57.805
And if you put a picture of what the facade

06:57.805 --> 07:00.725
of Muradia Mosque looks like side by side

07:00.725 --> 07:02.565
with Hyundai's painting, you will see

07:02.565 --> 07:05.325
that he has made a number of modifications there.

07:06.025 --> 07:08.805
The most important modification, as far as I'm concerned,

07:08.825 --> 07:13.125
is Hyundai to the top of the facade has embedded,

07:13.825 --> 07:18.645
scripts in the top of, at the very top, we see a

07:19.225 --> 07:23.245
qfi Arabic script, carved into the stone,

07:24.425 --> 07:28.325
qfi script In the context of 19th century, Ottomans

07:28.925 --> 07:32.925
signaled the ancient Islamic tradition.

07:33.585 --> 07:36.645
So when Hamdi puts, imagines,

07:36.675 --> 07:40.005
puts a carved qfi epigraphic banter

07:40.075 --> 07:42.405
that quotes a verse from the Quran.

07:43.065 --> 07:47.885
He is signaling to the beginning of Islamic dynasties.

07:48.825 --> 07:51.005
Now, that's at the top of the,

07:51.065 --> 07:52.845
the top band of the facade.

07:53.185 --> 07:58.045
Now, when we come further down, we see some colorful tiles,

07:58.115 --> 08:02.685
some polychrome tiles, as well as yet another script,

08:02.685 --> 08:05.045
from another, verse and Quran,

08:05.505 --> 08:08.485
but this time in color tiles.

08:08.945 --> 08:13.045
And this refers to the previously mentioned golden age

08:13.045 --> 08:15.245
of Ottoman art, the 15th

08:15.265 --> 08:18.845
and especially 16th century Ottoman art,

08:19.195 --> 08:21.605
that perfected the Islamic art traditions

08:21.605 --> 08:23.045
that it had inheritance

08:23.865 --> 08:27.765
and reached, what again, the 19th century Otto

08:27.905 --> 08:31.245
and very many others in the 19th century consider to be,

08:31.585 --> 08:34.525
the peak of Islamic art in the 16th century.

08:35.305 --> 08:38.205
So, you know, Hamdi is very intelligently

08:38.725 --> 08:42.845
positioning these colorful tile au tile bands

08:43.515 --> 08:46.125
signaling the peak of culture,

08:46.925 --> 08:48.725
cultural civilization in the ottoman,

08:48.745 --> 08:53.165
empire in the 16th century under the Qfi script.

08:53.705 --> 08:55.525
So the facade of the mosque,

08:55.525 --> 08:58.725
in a way turns into a time machine, right,

08:58.795 --> 09:00.485
that transverses the here

09:00.485 --> 09:03.605
and the now, the present thanks to oil painting,

09:03.675 --> 09:06.845
what the facade, this imaginary facade of the painting,

09:07.145 --> 09:10.205
the mosque that's on the imagines is doing, is actually

09:11.025 --> 09:15.765
taking us back to this deep time, this long duration

09:15.765 --> 09:18.485
of history that we as individuals

09:18.715 --> 09:22.845
with limited lifespans couldn't have imagined,

09:22.845 --> 09:24.085
couldn't have experienced.

09:24.505 --> 09:26.845
But it's the, it's in the hands of the artist.

09:26.995 --> 09:31.845
It's, the power of the oil painting itself to synthesize

09:32.505 --> 09:34.605
the past, to integrate the past

09:34.745 --> 09:39.485
and make us see this long duration of history,

09:40.115 --> 09:41.765
that brings us to the present

09:41.955 --> 09:44.045
that underlies everything in the present.

09:44.705 --> 09:46.445
So with this information in mind,

09:46.445 --> 09:48.525
when you look at the lower part of the painting,

09:49.025 --> 09:51.205
and when you look at the human figures

09:51.205 --> 09:54.565
that are populating the present, what you see is

09:54.565 --> 09:57.245
that they are, for the most part, unaware

09:57.945 --> 10:02.565
of this long duration of history that has enabled them

10:02.825 --> 10:04.485
to exist in the present, right?

10:04.715 --> 10:06.405
They're going about their business.

10:06.545 --> 10:08.365
Nobody is looking up at the mosque

10:08.365 --> 10:10.685
and seeing all these layers of history

10:10.685 --> 10:13.845
that ham de has literally embedded almost like a

10:13.845 --> 10:17.085
chronological timetable onto the facade

10:17.085 --> 10:18.245
of this mosque, right?

10:19.065 --> 10:22.845
And you asked, how Hamdi uses photographic vernacular.

10:23.465 --> 10:25.845
Uh, he uses it in a very, very thoughtful,

10:25.845 --> 10:28.005
in a very intelligent way, which shows us

10:28.005 --> 10:29.965
that Hamdi was following,

10:30.155 --> 10:32.765
very closely the developments in photography,

10:32.905 --> 10:36.005
not only street photography and studio photography,

10:36.505 --> 10:39.885
but also some cutting edge experimentations,

10:39.885 --> 10:41.245
with animal locomotion

10:41.245 --> 10:44.805
and photography that figures like, Edward,

10:44.905 --> 10:46.885
my Bridge were conducting at that time.

10:48.195 --> 10:51.765
When we look at the human figures there, we see that there's

10:52.285 --> 10:56.845
a photographic vernacular almost used, referred to,

10:57.115 --> 10:58.725
very explicitly referred

10:58.725 --> 11:01.485
to in the way in which Hamdi depicts them.

11:01.785 --> 11:03.565
He uses light and shade,

11:03.705 --> 11:07.645
and even the poses that he captures, he clearly wants

11:07.665 --> 11:09.165
to refer to photography.

11:10.025 --> 11:12.525
Um, I think Hamdi's incorporation

11:12.525 --> 11:15.005
of the photographic vernacular is a very intelligent

11:15.365 --> 11:16.765
approach to dealing with the role

11:16.905 --> 11:18.565
of painting in this period.

11:18.665 --> 11:23.055
And I'm going to explain why now, Hyundai's way of

11:23.745 --> 11:26.775
using the photographic vernacular in these little small

11:26.785 --> 11:31.375
human, beings at the bottom adds a sense of immediacy

11:31.795 --> 11:34.345
to, to their presence, right?

11:35.445 --> 11:37.345
And there are some other photographic

11:37.375 --> 11:38.705
motives that HHI is using.

11:38.845 --> 11:41.105
For example, take a look at the pigeons

11:41.615 --> 11:45.305
that are cascading across the stone facade of the mosque

11:46.345 --> 11:50.245
or the ladies who are climbing the steps of the mosque.

11:50.945 --> 11:55.045
Uh, hamdi is clearly looking at experimental photographs,

11:55.705 --> 11:58.365
by figures like et mare

11:59.105 --> 12:01.325
and, Edward, my Bridge

12:01.385 --> 12:06.165
and Thomas Akins, who were engaged in experimenting

12:06.235 --> 12:09.005
with what the photography could do in the 1880s

12:09.025 --> 12:13.325
and 1890s for these photographers, what was important was

12:13.385 --> 12:17.085
to use the photographic device as a tool

12:17.195 --> 12:19.165
that could surpass the human eye

12:19.625 --> 12:21.565
to capture details in nature

12:21.755 --> 12:24.645
that human eye couldn't capture, for example, mere.

12:24.905 --> 12:27.925
And my bridge developed different devices on different

12:27.925 --> 12:31.685
techniques to capture how an animal moved

12:32.145 --> 12:35.485
to divide the movement of the animal that would span,

12:35.485 --> 12:39.285
let's say, three seconds into its milliseconds in a way,

12:39.345 --> 12:43.485
to capture these details that human eye couldn't see, right?

12:43.505 --> 12:44.525
It would be too fast.

12:45.025 --> 12:49.205
So for these, pioneers of photographic experimentation,

12:50.025 --> 12:54.805
the camera was a superhuman device that could,

12:55.385 --> 12:58.045
penetrate the secrets of nature

12:58.075 --> 12:59.565
that the human eye couldn't see.

13:00.105 --> 13:03.845
So when we go back to phos, mosque facade,

13:03.845 --> 13:05.405
and when we look at these motives

13:05.405 --> 13:08.165
of pigeons cascading across the stone facet,

13:08.865 --> 13:11.365
or the women ascending the steps of the mosque,

13:11.365 --> 13:13.125
there are parasols in various states

13:13.145 --> 13:14.365
of being open or closed.

13:15.065 --> 13:17.285
Uh, we, it's very clear

13:17.355 --> 13:21.845
that Hamdi is very explicitly referencing, works by mare

13:21.865 --> 13:23.085
and my bridge and others.

13:23.785 --> 13:26.525
Um, it's very clear that these motives,

13:26.525 --> 13:29.045
they declared their kinship, the photographic studies

13:29.585 --> 13:30.885
of human locomotion

13:30.905 --> 13:34.685
and animal locomotion produced by mare and others.

13:35.355 --> 13:39.125
However, I do not think that K's painting tries

13:39.125 --> 13:40.245
to imitate photography.

13:40.365 --> 13:42.165
I think s doing something very smart.

13:43.245 --> 13:45.765
I think Hyundai's painting is making strategic use

13:45.765 --> 13:48.365
of these available photographic vernaculars,

13:48.365 --> 13:50.805
so strict street photographer studio photography,

13:51.025 --> 13:54.805
but also these experimentations with photograph,

13:55.065 --> 13:58.125
in order to signal the here

13:58.345 --> 14:02.325
and the now that is constantly fleeting against the backdrop

14:02.625 --> 14:05.725
of deep and invisible structures of history,

14:06.265 --> 14:09.325
the possible venues that Osman harm de a person

14:09.355 --> 14:11.405
with resources like Osman Harm de had

14:11.865 --> 14:13.405
for expressing his thoughts

14:13.405 --> 14:15.805
and for shaping the world, changing the world, right?

14:16.305 --> 14:18.605
Uh, he was a very important bureaucrat.

14:18.825 --> 14:21.405
So, you know, he had direct impact on what kind

14:21.405 --> 14:22.685
of policies were drafted.

14:23.305 --> 14:25.285
He was the founder of the School of Fine Arts.

14:25.305 --> 14:27.085
You know, he had direct impact over

14:27.145 --> 14:28.405
how fine arts was thought.

14:28.705 --> 14:31.125
He was the director of the Antiquities Museum,

14:31.275 --> 14:33.965
like he had direct impact over,

14:34.145 --> 14:38.445
how the ultimate empires whilst diverse layers of historical

14:38.965 --> 14:42.285
heritage, heritage were presented for, represented right?

14:42.505 --> 14:45.605
And he himself was an archeologist, so he actively went

14:45.625 --> 14:47.245
and dug an excavator to pass it.

14:47.545 --> 14:49.165
So why did he paint?

14:50.285 --> 14:53.635
Clearly there was something very specific about

14:53.745 --> 14:57.155
what the medium of oil painting could do that none

14:57.155 --> 14:59.995
of these other venues, could have addressed.

14:59.995 --> 15:01.715
So what is that specific thing

15:01.715 --> 15:05.075
that only oil painting could have done that is not

15:05.075 --> 15:06.595
to imitate photography, right?

15:07.025 --> 15:09.235
That clearly oil painting as a medium

15:09.895 --> 15:12.315
is offering something unique that, you know,

15:12.955 --> 15:14.875
NDI continued painting till the end of his life.

15:14.875 --> 15:16.235
That is a very interesting question.

15:16.855 --> 15:19.395
So when we go to a question of the question of the role

15:19.395 --> 15:21.835
and the definition of the art of painting in modern times,

15:22.635 --> 15:24.475
I think again, when we look closely at the,

15:24.475 --> 15:28.235
at the mosque door, we see really a compelling response

15:28.495 --> 15:29.715
to the question of the role

15:30.375 --> 15:33.235
and the urgency of the art of painting in modern times.

15:33.935 --> 15:36.835
So again, we're talking about an remarked by rapid

15:37.395 --> 15:40.435
societal changes and shifting cultural paradigms.

15:41.055 --> 15:42.715
So artists, not only ham,

15:42.735 --> 15:45.155
but everywhere in the world, were grappling with questions

15:45.155 --> 15:48.235
of tradition, identity, innovation, and modernity.

15:50.095 --> 15:51.785
So's dy based painting

15:51.885 --> 15:55.305
or painting is navigating these complexities,

15:55.305 --> 15:57.665
by engaging with traditional ottoman themes,

15:57.805 --> 16:00.225
but also contemporary artist techniques.

16:01.255 --> 16:03.035
Now, what could painting do?

16:03.315 --> 16:06.875
I want to give you a very specific example from this

16:07.075 --> 16:10.035
painting to show you what painting could do that

16:10.815 --> 16:12.075
no other medium could do,

16:12.455 --> 16:14.075
not even photography could do, right?

16:14.375 --> 16:16.875
We said that photography can capture only the here

16:16.875 --> 16:19.155
and the now, even things that human eye cannot see,

16:19.375 --> 16:22.355
but only what is currently existing right now.

16:22.365 --> 16:26.635
Right now, there is, there are some details in home.

16:26.635 --> 16:30.555
This painting that's really open up our understanding of

16:30.555 --> 16:32.155
what this painting is trying to do.

16:32.855 --> 16:34.435
Uh, and one of these details

16:35.095 --> 16:38.355
really asserts a fundamental distinction between a painter

16:38.355 --> 16:40.115
and a camera, a painting and photography.

16:40.365 --> 16:44.515
There are multiple self-portraits of the artist embedded

16:44.805 --> 16:45.995
among these figures

16:45.995 --> 16:47.915
that we see populating in the background.

16:48.015 --> 16:51.755
For example, the beggar who is sitting cross-legged,

16:51.815 --> 16:54.915
in the foreground, his face is Osman face.

16:55.535 --> 16:59.255
Uh, the Arabic clerk who is standing next to him is

16:59.675 --> 17:01.175
yet another portrait of Osman.

17:01.985 --> 17:06.095
There is an old beck, an old warrior warrior seated

17:06.095 --> 17:09.095
to the left of the, mosque door behind them.

17:09.475 --> 17:11.055
His face is half in the shadows.

17:11.515 --> 17:13.735
That's again, Osman self portrait,

17:14.395 --> 17:17.975
and the imam, the very imam of the mosque in the lower right

17:18.715 --> 17:22.095
of the painting, his folding up his sleeves in preparations

17:22.115 --> 17:23.375
for taking ablutions.

17:23.955 --> 17:26.455
He also also carries the distinct facial features

17:26.455 --> 17:27.815
of Osman Hambi himself.

17:28.275 --> 17:31.215
So we are talking about an impossible proliferation

17:32.075 --> 17:35.495
of the artist masquerades of multiple contemporary types.

17:36.465 --> 17:41.005
Once we see this detail, we, this guarantees

17:41.035 --> 17:44.285
that we read this painting, neither as photography

17:44.805 --> 17:46.605
mechanically capturing the truth of nature,

17:47.425 --> 17:50.245
nor as a simple oriental genre painting

17:51.205 --> 17:52.645
seemingly reporting observed

17:52.715 --> 17:56.365
reality ontologically.

17:56.475 --> 18:00.125
When we think about analog photography, we remember

18:00.125 --> 18:03.285
that it relies on the already existing presence

18:03.285 --> 18:04.525
of the photographed object.

18:05.265 --> 18:08.165
But painting as layered

18:08.265 --> 18:12.765
and conceptualized in NDIS at the mosque door insists on

18:13.465 --> 18:17.325
the oil paintings in the penance of any slavish imitation

18:17.325 --> 18:21.475
of the here and now by referencing photographic aesthetics

18:21.475 --> 18:24.595
in the painting, Hamdi's work actually deeply reflects on

18:24.595 --> 18:28.315
the role of the medium of painting in opposition

18:28.355 --> 18:30.475
to the medium of photography In modern times,

18:31.375 --> 18:34.955
and as far as I'm concerned, Hamdi proposes painting,

18:35.215 --> 18:37.755
oil painting as the quintessential medium

18:38.305 --> 18:40.515
that can make visible long durations

18:40.515 --> 18:42.435
of history underlying the present moment.

18:43.255 --> 18:48.165
So painting not only encompasses the superhuman

18:48.305 --> 18:51.285
eye of the camera that can capture the instant

18:51.305 --> 18:54.285
and divide it into smaller units like the cascades

18:54.285 --> 18:57.485
of the pigeon walking, the ladies walking up the steps

18:57.485 --> 18:58.565
with their parasols.

18:59.105 --> 19:03.325
But painting supersedes photography in gesturing at the long

19:03.805 --> 19:05.285
duration of historical processes,

19:05.355 --> 19:08.045
otherwise invisible to the observing individual.

19:08.995 --> 19:11.575
So if photography is a device of analysis

19:11.605 --> 19:12.775
that can capture the here

19:12.775 --> 19:15.335
and now of nature, NDI seems

19:15.335 --> 19:18.735
to argue painting is the superior medium of synthesis

19:19.005 --> 19:22.615
that can show nature as history in its long processes

19:23.165 --> 19:26.775
revealing the truth about where we come from and who we are.

19:28.165 --> 19:30.625
Um, and of course, I think it's very significant

19:30.625 --> 19:33.305
that the artist is embedding his style portraits too,

19:33.605 --> 19:36.105
to signal the importance, the specificity

19:36.165 --> 19:39.535
of the artist himself as a mediator

19:41.235 --> 19:43.685
between us, the ordinary mortals

19:43.685 --> 19:47.485
who go about our daily lives, not being aware of this,

19:47.545 --> 19:49.925
you know, looming presence of grant history.

19:50.665 --> 19:53.245
So he's mediating between us

19:53.865 --> 19:57.245
and this grant, this deep, this overwhelming,

19:57.425 --> 20:00.645
all inspiring history that we are products of in a way.

20:00.875 --> 20:03.325
It's a great example. Monet.

20:03.335 --> 20:05.045
Let's take Monet, let's take Hamdi

20:05.345 --> 20:09.245
and let's think about, whether the questions

20:09.245 --> 20:12.445
that Hamdi are, are grappling with are specific

20:12.445 --> 20:15.365
to Hyundai, and how other artists of that period

20:16.025 --> 20:17.125
are answering these questions.

20:17.125 --> 20:18.285
So what is Hamdi's problem?

20:18.885 --> 20:21.365
Hamdi's problem is that we are all products

20:21.935 --> 20:23.365
right here and now.

20:23.385 --> 20:27.125
We are all products of long durations of history, long,

20:27.155 --> 20:30.365
long-term processes, long-term, biological processes,

20:30.365 --> 20:33.405
linguistic processes, civilizational processes, right?

20:34.025 --> 20:38.165
Um, even geological processes. But we are not aware of it.

20:38.165 --> 20:40.005
And within our human limitations,

20:40.665 --> 20:42.845
we cannot really talk about it, right?

20:43.315 --> 20:46.525
Science can look into it like geology can look into it,

20:46.715 --> 20:48.165
linguistics can look into it.

20:48.385 --> 20:50.405
So what's the role of the artist today?

20:51.105 --> 20:53.645
Are artists just inventing things?

20:54.195 --> 20:56.725
Then what's the value of invention? Right?

20:56.945 --> 20:59.925
So a lot of artists, not only in the Ottoman Empire,

20:59.925 --> 21:01.765
but in Europe, in the states, all around the world,

21:01.785 --> 21:06.005
are dealing with these questions of the role of art

21:06.585 --> 21:09.605
during, this period of the ascendancy of science.

21:09.605 --> 21:12.925
While science is understanding, developing insights

21:13.635 --> 21:17.445
into all sorts of complex processes that lead to today,

21:17.665 --> 21:18.925
the here and the now, all

21:18.925 --> 21:21.365
of us in all our complications, right?

21:21.715 --> 21:25.125
Like, what does painting do? Should we even paint?

21:25.985 --> 21:29.765
Um, so Monnet has a completely different response

21:29.765 --> 21:31.125
than hamdi to that question.

21:31.905 --> 21:35.645
Now, first of all, to direct answer your question,

21:35.645 --> 21:37.365
what's the relationship between Mona and Hyundai?

21:37.735 --> 21:39.925
There is no direct interaction documented

21:39.925 --> 21:41.885
between the two artists as far as I know,

21:41.905 --> 21:44.845
but, you know, historical archive,

21:44.845 --> 21:45.845
something may come up.

21:46.515 --> 21:49.365
That being said, what I find interesting is,

21:49.375 --> 21:52.285
their respective contributions to,

21:52.285 --> 21:56.245
thinking about the abilities of the medium of oil painting

21:57.335 --> 22:01.075
or for valuable insights into diverse ranges

22:01.075 --> 22:03.835
of influences shaping the trajectory of modern art.

22:04.575 --> 22:05.835
So in comparing Mona

22:05.835 --> 22:07.835
and Harm de it's important to

22:08.355 --> 22:10.355
recognize their share shared timeframe

22:10.815 --> 22:13.355
and the divergent paths they took in their art.

22:14.415 --> 22:18.475
Um, they are contemporaries, so it may be helpful to compare

22:19.095 --> 22:22.155
two works of them are made around the same time period.

22:22.295 --> 22:25.315
So on the one hand, let's keep Hamdi's at the mosque door.

22:25.975 --> 22:27.075
And now let's,

22:27.075 --> 22:29.915
take one specific example from Monnet just

22:29.915 --> 22:31.715
around the same time that Hamdi was

22:31.715 --> 22:33.235
finalizing at the mosque door.

22:33.775 --> 22:35.755
Uh, Monnet launched into a series

22:35.755 --> 22:39.795
of paintings depicting the Medieval Cathedral of Juan,

22:40.605 --> 22:41.645
a project that would last

22:41.645 --> 22:43.325
around three years with fits and starts.

22:43.985 --> 22:46.645
And the series would ultimately,

22:46.995 --> 22:49.725
culminate in a major exhibition in May

22:49.745 --> 22:54.205
of 1895 at the gallery of the art dealer Duran in Paris.

22:55.585 --> 23:00.405
Um, one example, national Gallery

23:00.425 --> 23:04.125
of Art in Washington, DC has a fantastic painting from

23:04.125 --> 23:08.485
that series one cathedral West facade painted around 1894.

23:09.305 --> 23:11.325
Now, Monet in this painting

23:12.435 --> 23:14.765
clearly focuses on using the oil

23:14.905 --> 23:18.435
or the medium of oil paint to capture

23:19.445 --> 23:23.185
the essence of a single moment, almost sculpting the surface

23:23.285 --> 23:25.185
of his painting with layers of paint.

23:26.365 --> 23:28.705
Now, when I say he's using the male of medium

23:28.725 --> 23:30.425
of oil painting to capture of the essence

23:30.425 --> 23:33.145
of a single moment, let's think about the reality

23:33.205 --> 23:34.305
of oil painting.

23:34.415 --> 23:36.025
It's not like a snapshot

23:36.025 --> 23:38.025
that you can take with the camera, right?

23:38.405 --> 23:41.985
Oil painting, even if it looks like a moment,

23:45.095 --> 23:48.115
takes a long time to complete, right?

23:48.455 --> 23:51.315
So the painting, Mona's painting may look like it shows us

23:51.315 --> 23:55.035
really a split second that hits the eye, right of the facade

23:55.415 --> 23:57.115
of the one cathedral when the sun

23:57.115 --> 23:58.275
is sitting from a particular angle.

23:58.535 --> 24:00.995
But Monnet actually spends several months

24:02.155 --> 24:03.475
painting this painting, right?

24:03.615 --> 24:06.475
So when this painting is built on this fiction

24:06.975 --> 24:10.195
of an instant, but the reality of the creation

24:10.195 --> 24:14.245
of the painting actually based on long duration, right?

24:15.065 --> 24:18.005
So, but for Monet, clearly what is very urgent

24:18.425 --> 24:22.405
and what painting can do is to convey the immediacy

24:23.025 --> 24:27.725
of the artist's personal subjective experience of seeing

24:28.345 --> 24:31.605
how those sunlight hit the surface of the one cathedral

24:32.225 --> 24:34.405
in one specific instant, right?

24:35.345 --> 24:39.005
And it's very clear that Monet is rejecting any certainty

24:39.005 --> 24:41.565
about capturing historical processes

24:41.565 --> 24:42.845
beyond the fleeting present.

24:44.625 --> 24:47.355
Clearly, Monnet doesn't believe that the painting

24:48.215 --> 24:50.515
can not only capture the here and the now,

24:50.575 --> 24:53.915
but also show us these long-term processes.

24:54.505 --> 24:58.315
Like if as an artist I cannot witness those long-term

24:58.345 --> 25:00.715
processes, how can I make a painting

25:01.545 --> 25:03.635
that is truthful, right?

25:04.135 --> 25:05.515
So that's Mona's approach.

25:05.945 --> 25:10.675
Like for him, truthful painting can show only what he knows

25:10.695 --> 25:13.115
to be a fact, and the only thing he knows

25:13.115 --> 25:17.635
to be a fact is his immediate sensory experience, right?

25:19.245 --> 25:23.425
Um, so Monet is very, very pessimistic

25:24.075 --> 25:27.185
about the abilities of the medium of oil painting.

25:28.205 --> 25:30.825
So now when we look at,

25:30.895 --> 25:33.545
what HHI is doing at the mosque door,

25:33.855 --> 25:37.625
Hyundai is clearly not seeing painting as a passive medium,

25:38.365 --> 25:41.665
but as an active tool that is capable

25:41.885 --> 25:45.265
of revealing long-term processes to contemporary viewers.

25:46.085 --> 25:48.345
Um, his optimism lay in the belief

25:48.345 --> 25:50.265
that oil painting had the power

25:50.365 --> 25:52.425
to ate truths about our origins

25:52.425 --> 25:56.185
and identities almost on par with science, right?

25:56.855 --> 25:58.065
Attributing to the canvas

25:58.325 --> 26:01.145
and active role in synthesizing historical truths

26:02.105 --> 26:05.365
and present this canvas to, you know,

26:05.525 --> 26:07.405
clueless individual viewers.

26:07.825 --> 26:10.925
And suddenly they experience, they have a sense

26:11.465 --> 26:16.165
and inner understanding, a deeper understanding of

26:16.165 --> 26:20.045
where they are in relationship to the history of everything.

26:20.865 --> 26:23.485
So while Mona focuses on the transient nature

26:23.485 --> 26:26.885
of the present moment, Hamdi embraces oil painting

26:27.025 --> 26:28.925
as a means of accessing deeper historical

26:28.945 --> 26:30.285
and ontological truths.

26:30.735 --> 26:34.005
There are different perspectives reflect the multiplicity

26:34.005 --> 26:38.165
of art approaches artists took in grappling with the limits

26:38.305 --> 26:41.685
and purpose of oil painting at the end of the 19th century.

00:00 - Osman Debe was a prominent Ottoman intellectual, an artist who lived during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. he was born in Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire in 1843, and he died in 1910. And he played a significant role in the cultural

00:20 - and artistic landscape of the Ottoman Empire. He wore many hats in his lifetime, we could say. he was an important bureaucrat. He became the director of the Museum of Antiquities in Istanbul. he also founded the School of Fine Arts in Istanbul. He was a reformist bureaucrat who was instrumental in the implementation of the antiquities laws, and he himself was a pioneering archeologist.

00:49 - Now, what is very important to me is that in addition to these positions, he sustained a painting practice that's, that lasted five decades from the 1860s until his death in 1910. Now, when we think about oil painting, to the 21st century eyes, the medium of oil painting on canvas may seem outmoded. But if we reflect back to, the 19th century Ottoman context for the Ottoman modernizing intelligentsia,

01:20 - of which Hamdi was a member, this was a radically new and innovative medium. So the medium of oil painting on canvas, and it was strongly associated with modernity and with Europeanization. So let's keep that in mind. prospective drawing was a relatively recent methods introduced at the first engineering school in Istanbul in the first half of the 19th century, where it was taught by German

01:44 - and French instructors. And the first ottman artist who practiced oil painting on easel came from the ranks of the military in the 1820s and thirties. For that reason, now Hamdi belongs to the next generation of artists, and moreover, he had an opportunity to receive painting training in Paris in the studio of the French painter Jean Eron, in the 1860s. Now, when we examine his works, for example,

02:11 - at the mosque door that, I have written about in the chapter that you mentioned, we encounter what is commonly termed as orientalist imagery. Now, Orientalism, in its broader sense, refers to the depiction of Eastern cultures by western artists, often through a lens of ex exoticism and romanticization. but when we look at orientalist imagery in the context of Osman harm, this works, we are referring to a style that depicts, differently than the expected ex exoticization of the orient.

02:47 - while some orientalist works perpetuated stereotypes and misconceptions about Eastern cultures in Hyundai based paintings, including at the mosque door, we see a challenge, Reinterpretation of these conventions. he infuses his works with an intelligence that we think some of these established patterns established visual patterns of depicting the Oriental other. And in this context, it's crucial

03:13 - to understand the terms Ottoman and Turkish as well. Now, the Ottoman Empire will West Multicultural and Ma Ethnic Empire. It spans across three continents with its capital in, Istanbul today. While Turkish primarily refers to the dominant ethnic group in the Ottoman Empire, the term ottman and encompasses the broader cultural, political and social context of the empire's, diverse populations and territories.

03:44 - So when we look at Osman Ham, these art in the second half of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, what we see is a reflection of this rich tapestry of influences offering a nuanced portrayal of ottoman life and identity, but also a very intelligent and thoughtful reflection on modernity. What is modernity? This is a captivating at the mosque. Dar is a captivating painting by Osman harm debe that he painted, in the early 1890s.

04:14 - And it's initially seems like a very straightforward painting. It looks like it's an everyday life in front of a mosque, featuring a group of everyday types, everyday characters engaged in conversation and contemplation. we see ladies there, street urchins, man belonging to different social classes, different ethnic groups, different backgrounds. however, there is much more than

04:42 - what meets the eye about the context. Before I go into unpacking the painting for you a little bit more, in terms of historical context, the painting was created in the second half of the 19th century, which was a period of profound change and transition in the Ottoman Empire. It was marked by various efforts to modernize and reform the society, while grappling with the challenges of maintaining cultural identity and tradition. So when we look at the painting,

05:13 - with this information in, mind, within the broader context of ham's body of work, the painting is relevant to contemporary discussions surrounding not only cultural heritage and identity, but also modernity. And here what I want to emphasize is Hamdi is inquiring the role and function of oil painting in modern times. Now, first of all, I want to give a brief description of what we see when we look at the painting.

05:41 - we see a towering building entrance to a mosque, right, a temple. And, the human beings that are populating it are in front of it. And if you look at the painting, the human beings are fairly small compared to how large, how how expansive the building facade is. Now, Hamdi has, looked at various actual mosques, not only in Istanbul, but in the former ottoman capital of Bura,

06:11 - which was very important for 19th century ottoman narratives of a bygone golden age. So the period of Ottoman empires rise to world dominance, let's say, was marked by, its capital moving its evangel moving, the capital that it had built from to the west of the country. But Bursaw was this golden age capital, and the buildings there in the 19th century, those 15th, 16th century buildings were going through restoration. so a lot

06:46 - of people had turned their attention to those buildings there. So Hyundai in particular, is looking very carefully at a mosque called Moraia Mosque in Bura. And if you put a picture of what the facade of Muradia Mosque looks like side by side with Hyundai's painting, you will see that he has made a number of modifications there. The most important modification, as far as I'm concerned, is Hyundai to the top of the facade has embedded,

07:13 - scripts in the top of, at the very top, we see a qfi Arabic script, carved into the stone, qfi script In the context of 19th century, Ottomans signaled the ancient Islamic tradition. So when Hamdi puts, imagines, puts a carved qfi epigraphic banter that quotes a verse from the Quran. He is signaling to the beginning of Islamic dynasties. Now, that's at the top of the, the top band of the facade.

07:53 - Now, when we come further down, we see some colorful tiles, some polychrome tiles, as well as yet another script, from another, verse and Quran, but this time in color tiles. And this refers to the previously mentioned golden age of Ottoman art, the 15th and especially 16th century Ottoman art, that perfected the Islamic art traditions that it had inheritance and reached, what again, the 19th century Otto

08:27 - and very many others in the 19th century consider to be, the peak of Islamic art in the 16th century. So, you know, Hamdi is very intelligently positioning these colorful tile au tile bands signaling the peak of culture, cultural civilization in the ottoman, empire in the 16th century under the Qfi script. So the facade of the mosque, in a way turns into a time machine, right, that transverses the here

09:00 - and the now, the present thanks to oil painting, what the facade, this imaginary facade of the painting, the mosque that's on the imagines is doing, is actually taking us back to this deep time, this long duration of history that we as individuals with limited lifespans couldn't have imagined, couldn't have experienced. But it's the, it's in the hands of the artist. It's, the power of the oil painting itself to synthesize the past, to integrate the past

09:34 - and make us see this long duration of history, that brings us to the present that underlies everything in the present. So with this information in mind, when you look at the lower part of the painting, and when you look at the human figures that are populating the present, what you see is that they are, for the most part, unaware of this long duration of history that has enabled them to exist in the present, right?

10:04 - They're going about their business. Nobody is looking up at the mosque and seeing all these layers of history that ham de has literally embedded almost like a chronological timetable onto the facade of this mosque, right? And you asked, how Hamdi uses photographic vernacular. he uses it in a very, very thoughtful, in a very intelligent way, which shows us that Hamdi was following,

10:30 - very closely the developments in photography, not only street photography and studio photography, but also some cutting edge experimentations, with animal locomotion and photography that figures like, Edward, my Bridge were conducting at that time. When we look at the human figures there, we see that there's a photographic vernacular almost used, referred to, very explicitly referred to in the way in which Hamdi depicts them.

11:01 - He uses light and shade, and even the poses that he captures, he clearly wants to refer to photography. I think Hamdi's incorporation of the photographic vernacular is a very intelligent approach to dealing with the role of painting in this period. And I'm going to explain why now, Hyundai's way of using the photographic vernacular in these little small human, beings at the bottom adds a sense of immediacy

11:31 - to, to their presence, right? And there are some other photographic motives that HHI is using. For example, take a look at the pigeons that are cascading across the stone facade of the mosque or the ladies who are climbing the steps of the mosque. hamdi is clearly looking at experimental photographs, by figures like et mare and, Edward, my Bridge and Thomas Akins, who were engaged in experimenting

12:06 - with what the photography could do in the 1880s and 1890s for these photographers, what was important was to use the photographic device as a tool that could surpass the human eye to capture details in nature that human eye couldn't capture, for example, mere. And my bridge developed different devices on different techniques to capture how an animal moved to divide the movement of the animal that would span, let's say, three seconds into its milliseconds in a way,

12:39 - to capture these details that human eye couldn't see, right? It would be too fast. So for these, pioneers of photographic experimentation, the camera was a superhuman device that could, penetrate the secrets of nature that the human eye couldn't see. So when we go back to phos, mosque facade, and when we look at these motives of pigeons cascading across the stone facet, or the women ascending the steps of the mosque,

13:11 - there are parasols in various states of being open or closed. we, it's very clear that Hamdi is very explicitly referencing, works by mare and my bridge and others. it's very clear that these motives, they declared their kinship, the photographic studies of human locomotion and animal locomotion produced by mare and others. However, I do not think that K's painting tries

13:39 - to imitate photography. I think s doing something very smart. I think Hyundai's painting is making strategic use of these available photographic vernaculars, so strict street photographer studio photography, but also these experimentations with photograph, in order to signal the here and the now that is constantly fleeting against the backdrop of deep and invisible structures of history, the possible venues that Osman harm de a person

14:09 - with resources like Osman Harm de had for expressing his thoughts and for shaping the world, changing the world, right? he was a very important bureaucrat. So, you know, he had direct impact on what kind of policies were drafted. He was the founder of the School of Fine Arts. You know, he had direct impact over how fine arts was thought. He was the director of the Antiquities Museum,

14:31 - like he had direct impact over, how the ultimate empires whilst diverse layers of historical heritage, heritage were presented for, represented right? And he himself was an archeologist, so he actively went and dug an excavator to pass it. So why did he paint? Clearly there was something very specific about what the medium of oil painting could do that none of these other venues, could have addressed. So what is that specific thing

15:01 - that only oil painting could have done that is not to imitate photography, right? That clearly oil painting as a medium is offering something unique that, you know, NDI continued painting till the end of his life. That is a very interesting question. So when we go to a question of the question of the role and the definition of the art of painting in modern times, I think again, when we look closely at the, at the mosque door, we see really a compelling response

15:28 - to the question of the role and the urgency of the art of painting in modern times. So again, we're talking about an remarked by rapid societal changes and shifting cultural paradigms. So artists, not only ham, but everywhere in the world, were grappling with questions of tradition, identity, innovation, and modernity. So's dy based painting or painting is navigating these complexities, by engaging with traditional ottoman themes,

15:57 - but also contemporary artist techniques. Now, what could painting do? I want to give you a very specific example from this painting to show you what painting could do that no other medium could do, not even photography could do, right? We said that photography can capture only the here and the now, even things that human eye cannot see, but only what is currently existing right now. Right now, there is, there are some details in home.

16:26 - This painting that's really open up our understanding of what this painting is trying to do. and one of these details really asserts a fundamental distinction between a painter and a camera, a painting and photography. There are multiple self-portraits of the artist embedded among these figures that we see populating in the background. For example, the beggar who is sitting cross-legged, in the foreground, his face is Osman face.

16:55 - the Arabic clerk who is standing next to him is yet another portrait of Osman. There is an old beck, an old warrior warrior seated to the left of the, mosque door behind them. His face is half in the shadows. That's again, Osman self portrait, and the imam, the very imam of the mosque in the lower right of the painting, his folding up his sleeves in preparations for taking ablutions. He also also carries the distinct facial features

17:26 - of Osman Hambi himself. So we are talking about an impossible proliferation of the artist masquerades of multiple contemporary types. Once we see this detail, we, this guarantees that we read this painting, neither as photography mechanically capturing the truth of nature, nor as a simple oriental genre painting seemingly reporting observed reality ontologically. When we think about analog photography, we remember

18:00 - that it relies on the already existing presence of the photographed object. But painting as layered and conceptualized in NDIS at the mosque door insists on the oil paintings in the penance of any slavish imitation of the here and now by referencing photographic aesthetics in the painting, Hamdi's work actually deeply reflects on the role of the medium of painting in opposition to the medium of photography In modern times, and as far as I'm concerned, Hamdi proposes painting,

18:35 - oil painting as the quintessential medium that can make visible long durations of history underlying the present moment. So painting not only encompasses the superhuman eye of the camera that can capture the instant and divide it into smaller units like the cascades of the pigeon walking, the ladies walking up the steps with their parasols. But painting supersedes photography in gesturing at the long duration of historical processes,

19:05 - otherwise invisible to the observing individual. So if photography is a device of analysis that can capture the here and now of nature, NDI seems to argue painting is the superior medium of synthesis that can show nature as history in its long processes revealing the truth about where we come from and who we are. and of course, I think it's very significant that the artist is embedding his style portraits too, to signal the importance, the specificity

19:36 - of the artist himself as a mediator between us, the ordinary mortals who go about our daily lives, not being aware of this, you know, looming presence of grant history. So he's mediating between us and this grant, this deep, this overwhelming, all inspiring history that we are products of in a way. It's a great example. Monet. Let's take Monet, let's take Hamdi and let's think about, whether the questions

20:09 - that Hamdi are, are grappling with are specific to Hyundai, and how other artists of that period are answering these questions. So what is Hamdi's problem? Hamdi's problem is that we are all products right here and now. We are all products of long durations of history, long, long-term processes, long-term, biological processes, linguistic processes, civilizational processes, right? even geological processes. But we are not aware of it.

20:38 - And within our human limitations, we cannot really talk about it, right? Science can look into it like geology can look into it, linguistics can look into it. So what's the role of the artist today? Are artists just inventing things? Then what's the value of invention? Right? So a lot of artists, not only in the Ottoman Empire, but in Europe, in the states, all around the world, are dealing with these questions of the role of art

21:06 - during, this period of the ascendancy of science. While science is understanding, developing insights into all sorts of complex processes that lead to today, the here and the now, all of us in all our complications, right? Like, what does painting do? Should we even paint? so Monnet has a completely different response than hamdi to that question. Now, first of all, to direct answer your question, what's the relationship between Mona and Hyundai?

21:37 - There is no direct interaction documented between the two artists as far as I know, but, you know, historical archive, something may come up. That being said, what I find interesting is, their respective contributions to, thinking about the abilities of the medium of oil painting or for valuable insights into diverse ranges of influences shaping the trajectory of modern art. So in comparing Mona

22:05 - and Harm de it's important to recognize their share shared timeframe and the divergent paths they took in their art. they are contemporaries, so it may be helpful to compare two works of them are made around the same time period. So on the one hand, let's keep Hamdi's at the mosque door. And now let's, take one specific example from Monnet just around the same time that Hamdi was finalizing at the mosque door.

22:33 - Monnet launched into a series of paintings depicting the Medieval Cathedral of Juan, a project that would last around three years with fits and starts. And the series would ultimately, culminate in a major exhibition in May of 1895 at the gallery of the art dealer Duran in Paris. one example, national Gallery of Art in Washington, DC has a fantastic painting from that series one cathedral West facade painted around 1894.

23:09 - Now, Monet in this painting clearly focuses on using the oil or the medium of oil paint to capture the essence of a single moment, almost sculpting the surface of his painting with layers of paint. Now, when I say he's using the male of medium of oil painting to capture of the essence of a single moment, let's think about the reality of oil painting. It's not like a snapshot

23:36 - that you can take with the camera, right? Oil painting, even if it looks like a moment, takes a long time to complete, right? So the painting, Mona's painting may look like it shows us really a split second that hits the eye, right of the facade of the one cathedral when the sun is sitting from a particular angle. But Monnet actually spends several months painting this painting, right? So when this painting is built on this fiction

24:06 - of an instant, but the reality of the creation of the painting actually based on long duration, right? So, but for Monet, clearly what is very urgent and what painting can do is to convey the immediacy of the artist's personal subjective experience of seeing how those sunlight hit the surface of the one cathedral in one specific instant, right? And it's very clear that Monet is rejecting any certainty about capturing historical processes beyond the fleeting present.

24:44 - Clearly, Monnet doesn't believe that the painting can not only capture the here and the now, but also show us these long-term processes. Like if as an artist I cannot witness those long-term processes, how can I make a painting that is truthful, right? So that's Mona's approach. Like for him, truthful painting can show only what he knows to be a fact, and the only thing he knows to be a fact is his immediate sensory experience, right?

25:19 - so Monet is very, very pessimistic about the abilities of the medium of oil painting. So now when we look at, what HHI is doing at the mosque door, Hyundai is clearly not seeing painting as a passive medium, but as an active tool that is capable of revealing long-term processes to contemporary viewers. his optimism lay in the belief that oil painting had the power to ate truths about our origins

25:52 - and identities almost on par with science, right? Attributing to the canvas and active role in synthesizing historical truths and present this canvas to, you know, clueless individual viewers. And suddenly they experience, they have a sense and inner understanding, a deeper understanding of where they are in relationship to the history of everything. So while Mona focuses on the transient nature of the present moment, Hamdi embraces oil painting

26:27 - as a means of accessing deeper historical and ontological truths. There are different perspectives reflect the multiplicity of art approaches artists took in grappling with the limits and purpose of oil painting at the end of the 19th century.

Faculti AI can make mistakes