Women icon painters of the late Ottoman era and the Meiji era: Artistic legacies from Istanbul and Tokyo

Abstract

Western-oriented modernity is undoubtedly deemed a part of art history as much as it is of sociology. In light of a Western-directed Modernization, the periodical shifts and variations in art productions of certain Eastern women artists constitute the base of this study. The content of this research is expanded on the triangle of the Japanese, Russian and Ottoman Empires with the aim of crossing the paths of featured women artists, from the imperial capitals like Istanbul and Tokyo, who went through a similar process non-simultaneously within a physically vast distance yet artistically close. Transition from Edo Period where the rule was highly influenced by the samurais to Meiji Period is taken as the core of Westernization Period in Japan. Rin Yamashita (1857-1939), while she was a student receiving education in traditional arts field, made her first encounter with Western art offered by Western tutors as she enrolled in Kōbu Bijutsu Gakkō (Technical Fine Arts School) which was founded on the purpose of providing Western-style art education. Women artists selected for depicting the scene on the transition period of Ottoman Empire to Republic of Türkiye; Olga Petridou (1898-1980), Viktoria Lintridu (1905-1968), Egli Zografu-Simalaridou (1911-1999), Eleni Laskaratou (1912-1990) were students of the co-educational Devlet Güzel Sanatlar Akademisi (State Academy of Fine Arts) (1928) which emerged after the merge of Sanâyi-i Nefîse Mektebi and İnâs Sanâyi-i Nefîse Mektebi (The Imperial School of Fine Arts for Girls) where they were tutored by the most prominent Ottoman-Turkish artists, primarily in the field of Western-style painting.