(ANSAmed) - ANKARA, FEBRUARY 7 - The most important auction
of Ottoman artefacts of the past decade is to be held in
Istanbul on 18 February. Turkish websites reported the event,
referring to the initiative by the city's Asar-i Atika Antika
art gallery, which will auction among other things, a prayer
book by master calligrapher, Yakut Ibn-i Abdu'l Musta'simi .
Besides the rare seventh copy of the book 'Kotab Usbiyye-i' dating back almost 800 years ago, more than 380 pieces of Ottoman art will be up for auction at the Hotel Konrad , including classical and contemporary paintings. Among other things there will be an oil painting entitled Langa Bostanu by Nazmi Ziya, one of the most important Ottoman expressionists.
However, the focus will be on the prayer book: just four pages of a Koran written by the great calligrapher, his only work on sale, earned the sterling equivalent of € 2.05 million, said the owner of the art gallery, Can Onen.
The interest in the calligraphy of the pupil of the last Abbasid caliph and for art that will go for auction in ten days is part of a revival of Ottoman antiquities apparent for months in Turkey and abroad: exhibitions on the most diverse themes (from stoves to tents, from postcards to clothing) are juxtaposed with TV serials and films, restorations, books, and many smaller initiatives (from bed and breakfast to music groups), all in Ottoman style. The aesthetic taste of the empire, based in what is now Turkey, which for centuries dominated parts of three continents is a concrete response to Turkish foreign policy which some call neo-Ottoman because it is attempting to exploit the historical background to assert the interests of Ankara in a vast area from North Africa to the steppes of Asia. (ANSAmed).
Besides the rare seventh copy of the book 'Kotab Usbiyye-i' dating back almost 800 years ago, more than 380 pieces of Ottoman art will be up for auction at the Hotel Konrad , including classical and contemporary paintings. Among other things there will be an oil painting entitled Langa Bostanu by Nazmi Ziya, one of the most important Ottoman expressionists.
However, the focus will be on the prayer book: just four pages of a Koran written by the great calligrapher, his only work on sale, earned the sterling equivalent of € 2.05 million, said the owner of the art gallery, Can Onen.
The interest in the calligraphy of the pupil of the last Abbasid caliph and for art that will go for auction in ten days is part of a revival of Ottoman antiquities apparent for months in Turkey and abroad: exhibitions on the most diverse themes (from stoves to tents, from postcards to clothing) are juxtaposed with TV serials and films, restorations, books, and many smaller initiatives (from bed and breakfast to music groups), all in Ottoman style. The aesthetic taste of the empire, based in what is now Turkey, which for centuries dominated parts of three continents is a concrete response to Turkish foreign policy which some call neo-Ottoman because it is attempting to exploit the historical background to assert the interests of Ankara in a vast area from North Africa to the steppes of Asia. (ANSAmed).
