Arkas Art Center in İzmir province is hosting international exhibitions and has opened its doors to art lovers with a brand new exhibition for the spring season. The exhibition "Color, Light, Vibration: Turkish Impressionists," which opened its doors on April 12 with a grand opening, will be shining a light on Turkish impressionists, who have left their mark on the art of Turkish painting, until July 27. With artworks compiled from museums and special collections, paintings of landscapes, still life and portraits span through from the Ottoman times to the Republic times.

There are 125 works from the artists known as the 1914 Generation, who after completing their education abroad, returned to their country during Turkey's modernization period and are referred to as the representatives of modern art. The selection offers a rich collection from artists who were inspired by impressionism such as İbrahim Çallı, Nazmi Ziya, Hikmet Onat, Hüseyin Avni Lifij, Feyhaman Duran, Namık İsmail, Mehmet Ruhi Arel and Sami Yetik.Feyhaman Duran, "Panorama."

The "Color, Light, Vibration" exhibition is the second exhibition of the Turkish impressionist series, after the "Soldier Artists Exhibition," which displayed works created from the middle to the end of the 1800s. This exhibition consists of 125 works, out of which 75 belong to the Arkas Collection, and depict the importance of the 1914 Generation on Turkey's history of art. Speaking at the opening, Arkas Holding's chairman of the Board of Directors, Lucien Arkas noted that this generation is known as the founders of modern painting in Turkey. According to Arkas, painting education first started at military schools in Turkey and improved gradually, finally adapting the principles of the West. "This education caused some soldiers to quit the military and became painters; these are the leaders of the 1914 Generation. This generation was the first generation to go outdoors and draw what they see and as a result, the Çallı generation added variety to the art of painting," said Arkas. He also noted that these drawings were the first ones to include stories and with the foundation of the Republic, issues such as Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's principles and revolutions and women's role in social life also started to be depicted in the paintings.İbrahim Çallı, "Women Riding Around the Island."

1914 Generation Artists and impressionism

The 1914 Generation artists, who left their mark on the art of painting in Turkey during the first quarter of the 20th century and are also known as Turkish impressionists, were witnesses of the decline of the Ottoman Empire and the Constitutionalist Period, during which the Westernization movement accelerated, and welcomers of the newly founded Turkish Republic. Giving his name to the generation Çallı, Ziya, Onat, Lifij, Duran, İsmail, Arel and Yetik have added a variety of subjects to the art of painting, unlike their previous generation, and became leaders in expanding this movement.

They embraced nature as their tutor

After completing their academic education at Sanayi-i Nefise Mektebu (today, Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University), they visited Paris between 1908 and 1910 and after the outbreak of World War I in 1914, these artists returned to Istanbul after observing the impressionist painting trend, coming to an end in the West. The impressionist art approach they brought together ended all former techniques and expression methods, and the terminology of Turkish art of painting was transformed.

They were inspired by the outdoor paintings initiated by Hodja Ali Rıza in Turkish painting and pictured everything from various neighborhoods of Istanbul to different times of the day or season and have embraced nature as their tutor and made various natural observations.

Artists from three generations

While the majority of painters are from the 1914 Generation in the "Color, Light, Vibration" exhibition, there are painters before and after as well. The exhibition brings three generations of artists together thanks to their passion for nature and their drawings of landscapes. The exhibition hosts works from the pioneers of the 1914 Generation Rıza and Halil Pasha, former soldiers Şevket Dağ, Ali Rıza Beyazıt, Mehmet Ali Laga, Çallı, who gave the generation its name, Onat, Lifij, Duran and their followers Sabiha Rüştü Bozcalı, Melek Celal Sofu, Hamit Görele, Şeref Akdik, Edip Hakkı Köseoğlu.

Revolutions during the foundation of the Republic are also included in the creations of these artists. Art, the image of modern women, the Alphabet Reform, Clothing Reform and The Law of Unification of Education have all been visualized and used as a tool in these paintings. The 1914 Generation artists have assumed showing the image of modern women and where they want to see them the most, in public space as a mission with the Independent Painters and Sculptors Union, which hosts their students and artists that will form the d Group. Çallı's "Ada'da Sohbet" ("Chat on the Island") and Arel's "Fatih Kaymakamlığı" ("Fatih Governor's Office") are two masterpieces that visualize the importance modernization attributes to women carrying women to the public space.

The founders of modern painting in Turkey, the 1914 Generation artists have created portraits, nude paintings, modern women's image, indoor paintings, still life paintings and compositions with various figures and differ from the previous generation with the subjective interpretation of nature. They have aimed to reveal subjectivity in art and in this respect, this is the first generation that can be deemed as the founder and carrier of modern art in Turkey.