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SAY, Seda Kula
The Motivations and Inspirations for the Foundation of Ottoman Imperial School of Fine Arts
and Its Campus: A Comparison with Paris École Des Beaux Arts
The Ottoman Imperial School of Fine Arts founded in 1882 was the first Ottoman institution offering formal
education in arts and architecture. Due to the scarcity of the archive materials, its foundation years have been subject to a
limited number of scientific researches. However a recent examination of Ottoman and French documents, gives us clues
for a more comprehensive discussion on its formation and its campus as well as its first architect graduates, leading to a
new perspective on its contribution to the Turkish art and architecture towards the new republic. It is a fact that the Paris
École des Beaux Arts model had considerable influence on the foundation of the school. Yet some considerable differences
or adaptations, no wonder owing to local exigencies and ambitions, are observed, the most significant of which is the urge
to create an indigenous “Turkish art”.
The subject of this paper is to explore the motives and targets behind the decision to establish the school, the
chosen methods and models, with a stress on the architectural properties of the campus formation, as well as the profile of
instructor and student body. Last but not least, is a comparison of the initial intentions and the results obtained, in order to
evaluate to what degree could be achieved the projected contribution of the school and its graduates to the cultural identity
and artistic and architectural assets of the country, in alignment with the state’s cultural policies.
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