Osman Hamdi Bey (1842–1910), Turkish Street Scene, 1888

Osman Hamdy Bey (1842–1910) is considered today the most famous Turkish painter of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He played an important role in Turkish archaeology as archaeologist and founder of the first Turkish law for the protection of cultural artefacts. His painting of 1888 shows a "Turkish Street Scene": Two men offer several carpets to a tourist couple with a small daughter. A third trader stands behind the woman, apparently to advise the buyers. The painting shows typical features of an Orientalizing depiction. The traders in historical costumes stand opposite the equally stereotypical potential buyers with tropical helmets. The artist painted the displayed objects, such as the offered vase, according to objects in his own possession.

Osman Hamdi Bey (1842–1910), Turkish Street Scene, oil on canvas, 60 x 120 cm, 1888; source: © National Gallery of the National Museums in Berlin, Prussian Cultural Heritage, Inv. No. A I 420, https://id.smb.museum/object/962119, Creative Commons Public Domain Mark 1.0, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/deed.en.