Painter (B.1882, Istanbul – D. 1977, Istanbul) His father was a
navy commander, thus he went to Heybeliada Deniz Harp Okulu (T.N. Naval Academy) under his influence. After he
graduated from the academy in 1903 and had worked as a warrant officer for a
while. Later, he enrolled in Sanayii Nefise (Fine Arts Academy) and ended his
military career. In 1910 he passed the exam for Europe, which was required to
study abroad, and he went to Paris.
He had worked there at the academy for four years.
Upon his return to Turkey, he joined the Osmanlı
Ressamlar Community, which will be called as Fine Arts Union later, in 1914.
Together with Çallı İbrahim, Feyhaman Duran, Avni Lifij, Namık İsmail, Şevket
Dağ and some other artists, he formed Galatasaray exhibitions and ushered a new
era for Turkish painting. He worked at Fine Arts Academy (Sanayii Nefise) as a lecturer
and as a foreman of the workshop until 1949. He was also one of those who
founded Osmanlı Ressamlar Community and the Fine Arts Union.
He is known as an efficient landscape artist in modern art. The
first thing he painted upon his return to Istanbul
from Paris was
the small boats on Besiktaş shores. Everyday, he took notes of Bosphorus and
Golden Horn with barges’ and sailing ships’ reflection on the sea, of shores
adorned with sets of small boats, of vineyards’ and orchards’ sceneries turning
purple and grey as they moved back, and he put Istanbul decorated with lights into painting
in the manner of a passionate artist. Thus, he is considered as successor of
Hoca Ali Rıza who was the initiator of love of nature and Istanbul. There are limited numbers of
portraits and figure paintings of Onat, who was a plain air artist. Unlike the
simplex style of classical workshops and academy he went to, he gave examples
of his own style which was integrated with love of nature and in which he
achieved the balance among wide brushes and the tones of yellow, green, brown
and blue.
Hikmet Onat regularly participated in yearly exhibitions of Güzel
Sanatlar Birliği (T.N. Fine Arts Union) and Devlet Resim ve Heykel Sergileri (T.N. State
Art and Sculpture Exhibitions). He won two success awards, one in the 34th
Exhibition in 1973 with Yenimalle
Sırtlarından and one the following year with Sarıye’de Ahşap Ev.
MAIN WORKS (Paintings):
Siperde
Mektup Okuyan Askerler, Salacak'ta Kayıklar Ve Kızkulesi, Peyzaj, Büyükdere,
Büyükada,Dilburnu, Manolyalar, Çengelköy, Balıkçı Tekneleri, Topkapı Sarayı,
İstanbul Peyzajı.
REFERENCE: Nüzhet İslimyeli / Türk Plastik
Sanatçıları Ansiklopedisi (1971) - Asker Ressamlar ve Ekoller (1965), Türkiye Ansiklopedisi (c.3, s.1143,
1974), Zahir Güvemli / Çağdaş Türk Resminden Örnekler (1982), Nurullah Berk –
Kaya Özsezgin / Cumhuriyet Dönemi Türk Resmi (1983), Adnan Turanî / Batı
Anlayışına Dönük Türk Resim Sanatı (1984), Büyük
Larousse (c. 14, s. 8845, 1986), GH Alfabetik Genel Kültür Ansiklopedisi (c. 8,
s. 3021-3022, 1993), Sezer Tansuğ / Resim Sanatının Tarihi (1999), İhsan Işık / Ünlü Sanatçılar (Türkiye Ünlüleri
Ansiklopedisi, C. 5, 2013) - Encyclopedia of Turkey’s Famous People (2013).
