at his feet. some people think that these tortoises are representing the bureaucracy, which is difficult to change, slowly changing bureaucracy of ottoman times. but this is painted for a european audience, and i don t expect they could understand the meaning. that s interesting you say that, because i ve certainly come across this interpretation where, if you look at the background, you can see all of this peeling off plaster. the brickwork is exposed. quite clearly, there are cobwebs running up the interior of the arch, and lots of people have thought ah, painted 1906 the very final years of the ottoman empire . and they ve put all of these things together and given a sort of subversive political reading to this painting. but i m sensing it s not one that you buy. chuckles no, i don t buy that. but i buy this. he wasn t a typical orientalist. i mean, orientalism liked idle figures doing nothing.
he starts dressing, right, in turkish costume? exactly. he grows a very long beard. i think he was even known as the turk . it was kind of a marketing, and it worked. he was enormously successful, wasn t he? he was. he painted lots of aristocrats in different cities of europe. there is a story that when he s in constantinople, there is a particular model, very beautiful, who catches his eye. he draws her in various poses. this is one picture which is made from one of those drawings, and then that s a sort of source for later on, when he returns to europe, and with various clients, he can say, look, if you dress up in this, i ve brought this as well, i ve got the dress here. you could look as beautiful as mimica. is that sort of the idea? exactly. european people, everybody was interested in ottoman culture, and everything related with it. it s interesting to sort of think that this was almost like a very high, classy advertisement for what he could do. this is an image which is pr
the days of museums as grand, intimidating treasuries for dusty objects are long gone. they re becoming much more dynamic and inclusive places less solemn, less elitist, and less west centric too. museums, i believe, are really having a moment, and that s what i want to explore. this is amazing. so this is his studio. i can walk around, can i? he was painting the orient within the orient. when you see my work, you can easily link the concepts, let s say, or the technique, anything from them, as inspiring. i think that s rather wonderful. i m in istanbul, that great, entrancing, ancient megalopolis, once the capital of the byzantine and ottoman empires. lying on either side of the bosphorus strait, it s a city that straddles two continents, europe and asia, so it feels like the perfect place to discover for myself the long, still evolving story
he can say, look, if you dress up in this, i ve brought this as well, i ve got the dress here. you could look as beautiful as mimica. is that sort of the idea? exactly. european people, everybody was interested in ottoman culture, and everything related with it. it s interesting to sort of think that this was almost like a very high, classy advertisement for what he could do. this is an image which is projecting status, fashionability the elite taste of the time. i mean, ok, cosplay may be not quite the art historically appropriate term, but there s a sort of sense of dressing up that clearly, his clients, they wanted that. yeah, exactly. the beginnings of all of that fantastical side, if you like, of orientalism. i feel there s glimmerings of that here. so fundamentally, orientalism is about the west s imagined vision of the east, but the pera is also home to work by a fascinating artist, long considered a turkish orientalist osman hamdi bey. his masterpiece is the tortoise tr
when he was in paris, people saw him as an orientalfigure. so he was the best man to paint these subjects. so his calling card, if you like, was, if you want orientalist pictures, well, i m an oriental man. i m the guy to do it. yes. let s talk about the actual picture itself. what s going on? there s this figure associated with music who s really contemplating a group of tortoises at his feet. some people think that these tortoises are representing the bureaucracy, which is difficult to change, slowly changing bureaucracy of ottoman times. but this is painted for a european audience, and i don t expect they could understand the meaning. that s interesting you say that, because i ve certainly come across this interpretation where, if you look at the background, you can see all of this peeling off plaster. the brickwork is exposed. quite clearly, there are cobwebs running up