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Lot Essay
Together with Alberto Pasini (see lots 78-80), Fausto Zonaro is the artist most famously associated with Constantinople. Appointed court painter to the Sultan Abdulhamid II in 1896, Zonaro lived in Turkey from 1891 until his patron's overthrow in 1909, and was the most important artist to introduce a Western style of painting to the country.
Despite his formal title and few large-scale official commissions, Zonaro was primarily a painter of modern Turkish life, and his primary aim was to record the daily activities and traditions of the Turkish people, rendered in the light of Constantinople and the Bosphorus. Upon his arrival in the city, it was said that Zonaro was 'awake day and night', eager to capture the essence of the ancient city: the bustle of its busy marketplaces, the ships, frigates and fishing boats along the Bosphorus and the unique landscapes from which he gained the optimal views of all the sights of the city.
A version of this work is in the permanent collection of The Pera Museum, Istanbul.
We are grateful to Professor Cesare Mario Trevigne for confirming the authenticity of this painting.
Despite his formal title and few large-scale official commissions, Zonaro was primarily a painter of modern Turkish life, and his primary aim was to record the daily activities and traditions of the Turkish people, rendered in the light of Constantinople and the Bosphorus. Upon his arrival in the city, it was said that Zonaro was 'awake day and night', eager to capture the essence of the ancient city: the bustle of its busy marketplaces, the ships, frigates and fishing boats along the Bosphorus and the unique landscapes from which he gained the optimal views of all the sights of the city.
A version of this work is in the permanent collection of The Pera Museum, Istanbul.
We are grateful to Professor Cesare Mario Trevigne for confirming the authenticity of this painting.