From Mekteb-i Sultani to Galatasaray Lycee Painters

Because of the role that they played in the initial formative stage of painting among the Ottomans, the art instruction provided at Mekteb-i Sultani, the instructors and their artistic personalities, as well as the artists who studied there are all matters of importance.
The primary aim of this exhibition is to draw attention to an attitude towards education which, for over a century in the years from 1868 to 1968, upheld strict standards of quality, fostered an undying love of art from generation to generation, and transformed that love into professionalism.

A significant number of the youths who became familiar with art at Galatasaray went on to study at the Fine Arts Academy as much due to the influence of French language and culture as to the love of art that they had acquired there. The majority of those went to Paris to further develop their artistic abilities. For such individuals, the Galatasaray Lycée, the Academy of Fine Arts, and Paris represented three important stages of their lives as artists.