Abstract :
Although it is quite possible to give many examples for the relationship between painting and propaganda about the world and European art within the framework of art and propaganda relations, it is equally hard to list the same kind of examples for the Ottoman painting, which started as part of the search for a new identity during the Westernization efforts of the Ottoman Empire. However, it is possible to argue that a relationship exists between Ottoman art of painting and propaganda. This study examines the ‘sultan paintings’, which were done either for Ottoman sultans or on their orders by various artists, and the works of Şişli Workshop artists. In the ‘sultan paintings’ the visual and symbolic indications of power and regency, praise for the patriotism and previous military achievements and the emphasis of the Westernization efforts point towards the existence of propaganda discourse. Similarly, Şişli Workshop is the most important platform where Ottoman painters, who nearly always produced paintings without figures and portraits for the sultans, went beyond this tradition by creating paintings on the theme of Çanakkale Front in the World War. Artists from the 1914 Generation, a.k.a. Çallı Generation, worked in Şişli Workshop, which was where the art of painting was used as a means of propaganda in the Western world. These painters, who were asked to paint the ordeals Ottoman soldiers went through and the heroism that they showed in the Çanakkale Front, accepted this task with a sense of responsibility toward the Turkish nation and each produced their works within their own understanding of art and perception of this war. The painting produced at the Şişli Workshop were exhibited nationally and internationally for the European public opinion and hung on the walls of official public offices, which made them part of a larger propaganda project aimed at creating a national identity. This study discusses the intersection of Ottoman painting and propaganda with the aim of presenting a national approach to this relationship from our own history.
NaturalLanguageKeyword :
Ottoman Empire , Propaganda , Şişli Atölyesi , sultan paintings , Çallı Generation
