Gaziantep Duvar Resimlerinde İki Halk Sanatçısı: Bekir ve Şemsi

Abstract

The wall paintings beginning with the Westernization period at Ottoman Empire expanded into all kinds of building, especially the palaces and mansions in Istanbul. The leading motive in this expansion is the high concern of the people in having the very similar copies of the wall paintings in Istanbul paint at their residences when they returned homeland after having lived in Istanbul or hold office for a time at Ottoman court. Gaziantep has been one of the commercial centers for ages in terms of geographical location. It is concluded that the wall paintings in Gaziantep were influenced with the commercial activities in the region along with the motive mentioned earlier, and reflect the aspects of various cultures in accordance with the urban structure. Throughout this study, the main focus is on the wall paintings produced during the 19-20 centuries in Gaziantep, all of which can be considered as the Republican reflection of Ottoman wall painting tradition. These paintings display such various contents as definable urban landscapes, fantastic landscapes, thematic and figurative panels, and painted embroidery. In this paper which consists of a single chapter of a broad study, three houses of Gaziantep with wall paintings have been examined, and the works of two folk artists, Bekri and Semsi, have been evaluated along with a comprehensive comparison with the works of the other folk artists in Anatolia.