Osman Hamdi’s painting at London auction

LONDON

Osman Hamdi Bey’s painting “Kahve Ocağı” (The Hearth) will be up for sale at an auction organized by Bonhams, one of the world’s leading auction houses, at the 19th Century and British Impressionist Art Auction in London on March 26.

The painting is estimated to sell for between 1.5 million pounds and 2 million pounds. Created in 1879, the artwork is making its auction debut and stands out as one of the pivotal pieces in the artist’s career. At the heart of the composition, which depicts an indoor scene, is the fireplace that gives the painting its name.

Another composition by Osman Hamdi Bey, featuring two young women preparing coffee, will be part of Sotheby’s Orientalist Art auction in London on April 29. Titled “Preparing Coffee,” the painting is expected to fetch between 1 million pounds and 1.5 million pounds.

“When placed in the larger context of Osman Hamdi's rich oeuvre, ‘The Hearth’ stands as a pioneering work, where he tried out for the first time some of the most typical and successful features of his future art. His extraordinary skill at rendering the soft glow of panels of İznik tiles finds here its first expression; the other elements, the fireplace, the plate, the carpets, the coffeepot, would all reappear in subsequent works. Most importantly, however, this painting stands as the artist's first and very successful attempt at taming Orientalism and turning it into one of the trademarks of his oeuvre,” states Bonhams about the painting on its website.

Osman Hamdi Bey, an extraordinary figure in the second half of 19th-century Ottoman Türkiye and the creator of the renowned "The Tortoise Trainer," gained international acclaim for his art during his lifetime, exhibiting in major European venues such as the Paris Salon, the Royal Academy in London and Vienna. He became widely regarded as the quintessential Ottoman Orientalist painter.