OSMAN HAMDİ BEY’İN ESERLERİNDE DOĞU-BATI ETKİLEŞİMİNİN SANATSAL İFADESİ
ARTISTIC EXPRESSION OF THE EAST–WEST INTERACTION IN THE WORKS OF OSMAN HAMDI BEY

Summary/Abstract: This study examines how the interaction between East and West is addressed as an artistic expression in the works of Osman Hamdi Bey. Osman Hamdi Bey stands out as an artist who, during the modernization process of the Ottoman Empire, adopted Western aesthetic and artistic forms while simultaneously striving to preserve the traditional values of the East. Within the scope of this study, the artist’s works The Tortoise Trainer, Mihrab, Women at the Entrance of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, Girl Reading the Quran, and Women with Ferace were analyzed using the document analysis method, one of the qualitative research approaches. The findings indicate that Osman Hamdi Bey’s works prominently reflect an effort to build a bridge between the traditional values of the East and the modernization ideals of the West. In particular, his painting The Tortoise Trainer critically depicts, through symbolic representation, the slow progress of Ottoman society’s modernization and the resistance of traditional values. Similarly, in his other works, the aesthetic interaction between East and West is conveyed symbolically through figures and architectural details. In conclusion, the artist’s works serve as an artistic reflection of the cultural tensions experienced during the Ottoman modernization process and are regarded as significant pieces that deeply explore the aesthetic dialogue between East and West.

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