Second 'Tortoise Trainer' at Türkiye İş Bankası Museum

ISTANBUL

Turkish painter Osman Hamdi Bey's second “The Tortoise Trainer” has been included in the permanent exhibition titled “Viewing Turkish Painting” at Türkiye İş Bankası Painting and Sculpture Museum in Istanbul’s Beyoğlu.

This second work of the artist with the same theme, dated 1907, is now neighbor to the first version, dated 1906, exhibited at the Pera Museum.

In the 1907 version of “The Tortoise Trainer,” one of the paintings in which Osman Hamdi Bey worked in two versions on the same subject and which the artist called “The Man with Tortoise,” there are six tortoises, unlike the five tortoises in the other painting painted in 1906.

In the painting, the line "Şifa'al-kulûb lika'al Mahbub," which means "the healing of hearts is to reunite with the beloved [Hz. Muhammad]," can be seen in the place, which is understood to be a room of the Bursa Green Mosque, built by Çelebi Sultan Mehmed, reigned between 1413 and 1421. Right next to it, unlike the other painting, there is a plate written "Muhammad," and there is also a Çanakkale jug with green dripping on white in the niche, which is also unique to this painting.

Speaking about the artwork, Professor Gül İrepoğlu, founding curator of Türkiye İş Bankası Painting and Sculpture Museum, said: "The painting signed by Osman Hamdi Bey, who can be described as the only orientalist painter who can look at our culture from the inside, for his son-in-law Mahmud Münir Pasha, is a reflection of the intellectual artist's broad imagination and universal inspirations.”

İş Sanat General Manager Zuhal Üreten said that they were very pleased with the interest in the museum, which opened its doors to visitors on Oct. 29 last year as a gift to the 100th anniversary of the Turkish Republic.

She stated that with nearly 20 years of experience from the Türkiye İş Bankası Museum in Eminönü and the Economic Independence Museum in Ankara’s Ulus, their priority is to provide workshops for students at İş Bankası Painting and Sculpture Museum.

Noting that they included the "Self-Portrait" by Mihri Hanım, and then "The Tortoise Trainer" by Osman Hamdi Bey in the permanent exhibition within a few months following the opening of the museum, Üretimen pointed out that the exhibition of the work, which was purchased from a private collection in cooperation with Artam Antik AŞ, in a public space, is an important achievement in terms of the history of art.

The second “Tortoise Trainer” took its place at the Türkiye İş Bankası Painting and Sculpture Museum in Beyoğlu on March 12. It can be visited between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. on weekdays, except Mondays, and between 12 p.m. and 7 p.m. on weekends.

Osman Hamdi Bey

Osman Hamdi Bey is a prominent cultural figure of early Turkish Westernization who is also considered the founder of Turkish painting and archaeology.

Being a pioneer of contemporary Turkish painting, Osman Hamdi Bey is best known for his work “The Tortoise Trainer” in Türkiye and the world today.

Following his art education in Paris, Osman Hamdi Bey submitted his paintings to major exhibitions held in the country capitals across Europe. His works were influenced by the aesthetic approach and tendencies dominating the art circles of Paris, mainly orientalism. The artist brought a new breath to Turkish painting with his monumental figure works.

He also prepared a special regulation for the archaeological issues in Ottoman territory, banning foreign nationals from smuggling archaeological findings to foreign countries, which has been vital for Turkish archaeology until today.

Osman Hamdi Bey died on Feb. 24, 1910 in his waterfront mansion in Kuruçeşme at the age of 58, a few years after completing “The Tortoise Trainer.”