Painter (B.
1841, Istanbul – D. May 5th, 1907, Istanbul). His real name was
Ahmet Ali. He was known with his nickname Şeker (Sugar in English) because he
had a cheerful and kind-hearted personality. He drew attention with his skill
in painting in the Mekteb-i Tıbbiye (Medical School) that he entered in 1855
and he was appointed as the art teaching assistant. He quit the Medical School
and enrolled in Military College. With the order of Sultan Abdülaziz, who was a
painter like himself, he was sent to Paris for education in art (1864). He
enrolled in the Paris Fine Arts School. He worked in the workshops of Gustave
Boulanger, who was one of the main representatives of orientalism, and Jean
Leon Gerome (he came to Turkey in 1854), who knew about the East very well. His
works were accepted to Salon
(1869-1870), a state exhibition opened in Paris. After having finished his
school (1870) with outstanding success by also winning the Rome award, he was
sent to Rome for three months by the school.
After he
returned to Istanbul in 1871 he was appointed to Sultanahmet Sanat Mektebi (T.
N. Sultanahmet Art School) as an art teacher and he also gave lectures in
certain military high schools. In 1873, he also included Turkish artists along
with foreign artists in the first art exhibition of Istanbul that was organized
in the Art School. This was followed by his second exhibition, which he
prepared in Darülfünun (Istanbul University) in 1875. With his works and
studies he earned the praise of Abdülaziz and was appointed as the adjutant of
the sultan. He was promoted to brigadier rank in 1884 and to lieutenant general
rank in 1890. In 1895 he was appointed as the master of ceremonies for foreign
guests. With the exhibition he organized, he played a role in bringing the
thought of opening a fine arts school in which Turkish painters would be
trained to agenda. In 1876, the sultan approved the establishment of such a
school; because of the 1877-78 Russo-Turkish war, the school was opened as late
as 1882. Ahmet Pasha worked together with Osman Hamdi Bey in the foundation of
this school which was called Sanayi-i Nefise Mekteb-i Âlisi (T. N. Fine Arts
Academy).
Şeker Ahmet
Pasha has a place among the pioneers of Turkish painting that is inclined
towards Western art along with Osman Hamdi and Süleyman Seyyit. His works were
mostly in landscape and still-life categories. He painted some of the figures
he used in some of his landscapes in very small sizes to emphasize the grandeur
of nature. His works Tepe
Üzerindeki Kale and Talim Yapan Erler, which he had painted before he went to Europe are
the products of his naive approach that lacked knowledge of painting. The
influence of Courbet to whom he became close to while he was living in Paris,
can be clearly seen in his Orman and Geyikli Peyzaj works. When a transition was made from the
miniature to oil painting in Turkish art of painting, Şeker Ahmet Pasha
provided the following generation an introduction by developing a realistic
style that was based on light and shade styling and an understanding of
dimensional volume. His works are in certain museums, galleries and collections
both abroad and in the country.