Prep Eldem Halil Edhem (1 results)
Language: Turkish, Ottoman (1500-1928)
Published by Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Maarif Vekâleti Nesriyâti, Matbaa-yi Âmîre, Istanbul, AH 1340 = 1924 CE., London 1924
- Softcover
- First Edition
Seller: Khalkedon Rare Books ABA, ILAB, IOBA, ESA, Istanbul, TurkeyKhalkedon Rare Books ABA, ILAB, IOBA, ESA
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Add to basketSoft cover. Condition: Good. 1st Edition. Original stapled brownish wrappers. Roy. 8vo. (24 x 16,5 cm). In Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic letters). 60, [1] p. Wear to spine, slight foxing on some pages. Overall, a good copy. The scarce first edition of this catalogue, the earliest devoted to paintings in Turkish museums… of the period, was prepared by Halil Edhem, brother of Osman Hamdi (1842-1910), in his capacity as director of the Old Antiquities Museum. In the first chapter, under the heading The Beginnings of Painting in Our Country, Edhem Bey attempts a periodization and begins with observations on Turkish miniature painting. In particular, he draws on the manuscript Menâkib-i Hünerverân (ca. 1540), attributed to the historian Ali Efendi, to provide insight into the developments of the period. The book, still one of the principal sources on the subject, was originally conceived to compile several key materials. These included a list of copies made after Western works held in the museum known in the late Ottoman period as the Mecmâ-i Âsâr-i Âtika (which formed the basis of today's Istanbul Archaeological Museums), as well as a register of works by major Turkish painters that existed but had not yet been brought together within a museum or gallery context. It also aimed to include a general account of the art of painting and was expanded and enriched with the author's collected notes on the emergence of painting in Islam, particularly in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey, along with material on the establishment of the Academy of Fine Arts and early painting exhibitions. (Berk). Halil Edhem's primary aim was to advance the initiatives of Osman Hamdi Bey and to establish an art museum, a need increasingly voiced in contemporary periodicals such as the Osmanli Ressamlar Cemiyeti Gazetesi, where writers called for institutions that would both display artistic treasures and elevate public taste. Having already secured parliamentary support in 1910 through the efforts of Zehrab Efendi, who proposed an annual budget for building a collection, Halil Edhem envisioned not a modest national museum limited to Ottoman art, but, following the Louvre model, a modern, civilizational presentation of art history in which Ottoman and European works would be exhibited side by side according to national schools. When funds proved insufficient to acquire original European works, he did not hesitate to commission copies, prioritizing the visual articulation of a coherent art-historical narrative; such practices were not unusual at the time, before the emergence of a strong emphasis on originality. Nevertheless, his reliance on copies provoked sharp criticism, particularly from more nationalist circles, who argued that even a few original works would be preferable and denounced reproductions as lifeless imitations that risked dulling public sensibilities. Despite criticism, by 1914 Halil Edhem had assembled the collection later known as the Elvâh-i Naksiye. Although a separate museum was not established, the collection was exhibited at Dolmabahçe Palace and in the galleries of the Sanayi-i Nefise School. The accompanying catalogue outlined both the formation of the collection and its classification according to a modern museological framework. The works were organized into four sections: Ottoman painters regarded as "contemporary", contemporary European artists, original works by the Old Masters, and copies of Old Master paintings. This classification was later applied in the Painting and Sculpture Museum established in 1937 in the Crown Prince's Apartments of Dolmabahçe Palace. (Sources: Eskop online; Istanbul Resim ve Heykel Müzesi, by Nurullah Berk; Wikipedia). As of March 2026, OCLC shows twelve copies in North American libraries (755969917 - 21429905).
