International Journal of Art and Art History

The Formal and Contextual Analysis of Soldier Painters’ Artworks in the Westernization Era of Turkish Painting during Ottoman Period in Asia Minor
Cinla Seker

Abstract
The aim of this paper is analyzing soldier painters’ artworks formally and contextually in the westernization era of Turkish painting during ottoman period in Asia Minor. Asia Minor is the geographical name of the giant Anatolian peninsula bounded by the Black Sea in the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and the Aegean Sea to the west. It is the main body of today modern Republic of Turkey east-northern, east and eastsouthern borders with Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq and Syria. Homeland of countless cultures and civilizations from prehistorical times Asia Minor was the founding place of Ottoman Empire ruled in these lands for 600 years from 14th century to the 1st World War which after a modern day republic established here by the people of Asia Minor called the Republic of Turkey.In this paper21 soldier painters’ artworks analyzed formally and contextuallyunder the guidance offive elements; color, depth, perspective, composition, style and five principles; unity/harmony, balance, hierarchy, scale/proportion, dominance/emphasis and similarity and contrast.On soldier painters’ artworks there are main themes of western style painting: Local landscapes, historical places, mosques, palaces and their gardens, important figures from court, army or some civilians, seascapes, rivers or waterfalls, still lives and war.Every soldier painter’s artworkanalyzed has depth effect on two dimensional surfaces formed by using the elements and principles of western style painting, strict with both linear and aerial perspective rules; as a conclusion of this their proportions, sizes, sharpness and coloring as lightness, hue and saturation are accurate, used natural color schemes with slight touch of different colors each, has asymmetrical composition balanced as size, position, direction and color contrasts; as a conclusion of this they are managed to become dynamic, used texture as a uniting element in their own way on every analyzed artwork without any definable brushstrokes and strict on the golden ratio as an aesthetic element while organizing elements on surface of the painting.

Full Text: PDF       DOI: 10.15640/ijaah.v4n1a3