Name of Object:

View of Istanbul

Location:

Istanbul, Türkiye

Holding Institution:

Pera Museum

 About Pera Museum, Istanbul

Date of Object:

Second half of the 19th century

Author:

Felix Ziem  (1821-1911)

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Oil on canvas

Dimensions:

W: 410 + H: 220 cm

Description:

Felix Ziem, who incorporated the seasons and the changing light of the sun during the day into Venetian scenes, selected Istanbul – another city intertwined with the sea – as a subject for this particular work. Portraying a quiet village at the shores of the Bosporus and the boats on the sea, the painting is dominated by the golden colour of sunset. Ziem is deemed a particularly successful artist in terms of capturing the reflections of sunlight on the water. Recognizing this feature as Ziem’s forte, Theophile Gautier mentions the effects of the changing light of the sun – as part of the movement in the environment – reflecting on the water as “broken into a thousand fractions”. As in his other works, the figures have been transformed into a few colour stains in the picturesque atmosphere.

Archival or Bibliographical Reference:

Orientalist Paintings Collection-Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation Collection

Citation of this web page:

"View of Istanbul" in "Sharing History", Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://sharinghistory.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;AWE;tr;35;en

Copyedited by: Daniel de la VegaDaniel de la Vega

Daniel de la Vega is a copy editor based in Portland, Oregon. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in linguistics from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 2014 and has since done editing and localization work on everything from college applications to magazines to video game dialogue.

MWNF Working Number: TR2 031