İran ve Türkiye'de resim sanatının modernleşmesine karşılaştırmalı bir bakış: Jalıl Zıapour ve Nurullah Berk
A comparative study on the modernization of the painting in Iran and Turkey: Jalil Ziapour and Nurullah Berk
Yazar: JAMALEDDİN TOOMAJNIA
Danışman: PROF. DR. ZEYNEP KUBAN TOKGÖZ
İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi / Lisansüstü Eğitim Enstitüsü / Sanat Tarihi Ana Bilim Dalı / Sanat Tarihi Bilim Dalı
Derece: Doktora, 2023
Konu: Sanat Tarihi = Art History

Özet:
Komşu iki ülke olarak İran ve Türkiye, eski dönemlerden beri ortak tarihe ve kültüre
sahiptir. 20. yüzyılda büyük toplumsal ve siyasal değişimler yaşayan İran ve Türkiye,
iki büyük imparatorluk ülkesi olarak batılı ülkelerin sömürgeci politikalarına hiçbir
zaman tam anlamıyla maruz kalmamıştır. Ancak batılı ülkeler İran'ı da Türkiye'yi de
ekonomik ve kültürel açıdan dolaylı bir biçimde etkilemiştir. O etki altında iki
toplumda da yeni bir çığır açılmış ve bu topraklarda yeni kavramlar yaratılmıştır.
İran'ın ve Türkiye'nin batılılaşma seyri az çok benzer bir güzergâh izlemiş, Rusya ile
yapılan savaşlarla beraber iki ülkede de askeri anlamda modernleşme isteği
uyanmıştır. Bu uyanışın akabinde batının gelişme prosedürünü kavramak üzere bazı
aydınların batıya dönük kültürel metinler ve kitap tercümeleri yapmaları sağlanır. Bu
eylemler saray tarafından yapılandırılır, ancak iki ülkede de bu yola karşı çıkanlar olur.
Modern dünyaya açılmak isteyen Kaçarlar ve Osmanlılar, ilk olarak eski eğitim
sistemlerinin yerine batılı yeni sistemlere geçiş yaparlar. Bu geçiş 20. yüzyılda Rıza
Şah Pehlevî ve Mustafa Kemâl Atatürk'ün temel reformlarıyla devam ederek eski
sistemden tamamen kopar. Yeni sistemler sanat eğitiminde de hâkim olur. İran'da,
Rıza Şah Pehlevî döneminde yeni kurulan Tahran Üniversitesi'nin Güzel Sanatlar
Fakültesi'nden ilk öğrenciler sanat eğitimi almak üzere Avrupa'ya gönderilirler. Bu
öğrenciler arasında yer alan Jalil Ziapour, İran'ın kuzey bölgesinde yaşayan orta sınıf
bir aileye mensuptur. Paris'teki Académie des Beaux-Arts'ta resim ve heykel eğitimi
alan Ziapour, kendisini geliştirmek amacıyla bir süre o kentte Kübist sanatçı ve ünlü
bir eğitimci olarak tanınan André Lhote'un atölyesine de devam eder. Ziapour İran'a
döndükten sonra devlet tarafından bir sanat lisesinin kurulmasının temel taşlarını atar.
Bu lise sonraları İran'daki en önemli merkezlerden biri olarak geleceğin modern
sanatçılarını eğitir. Kurumun müfredatında modern resim ve heykelin yanı sıra İran'ın
eski ve geleneksel sanatlarına dair dersler de yer alır. Ziapour da evvelce İran'ın
geleneksel sanatları üzerine eğitim almış ve bu birikimle Paris'e gitmiş, dönemin
Paris'indeki atmosfere, Kıta Avrupa'sında iki dünya savaşı arasında gelişip büyüyen
Düzene Çağrı hareketine ve Lhote'un Fransız Klasisizm'ine dayandırdığı Fransız
Kübizm'i algısına uygun modern resim tarzını öğrenmiştir. Bilgi birikimiyle İran'a
özgü yerel ve modern tarz geliştiren Ziapour, kuramına 'İranlı Kübizm' (İranî Kübizm)
adını verir. O da ustası ve hocası Lhote gibi resim yapmanın yanı sıra yazılar yazar ve
metinleriyle modern sanatı İran toplumuna tanıtmaya çalışır. Dolayısıyla Ziapour,
İran'da modern sanatın 'babası' olarak tanınır.
Komşu ülke Türkiye'de batılılaşma hareketi Osmanlı döneminden ve İran'dan daha
önce başlar; modern sistemler eskilerin yerine geçer. Bu değişikler Cumhuriyet'in
ilanından sonra hızlanır ve devrim niteliği kazanır. Eğitim sistemi de bu değişikliklere
ayak uydurur ve sanatın gelişiminde büyük rolü olan Sanâyi-i Nefîse Mektebi yeni
sistemlerle öğrenci yetiştirmeye başlar. Okul, Cumhuriyet döneminde Güzel Sanatlar
Akademisi adıyla hizmet vermeye devam eder. Osmanlı Devleti'yle başlayan Batı'yöğrenci gönderme programı, Cumhuriyet döneminde de devam eder. Bu süreçte
Paris'e giden öğrenciler, Académie des Beaux-Arts'ta aldıkları eğitimin dışında
sanatta yeni arayışları kavramak için dönemin ünlü ressamlarının atölyelerine de
kaydolurlar. Bu ressamlar arasında en tanınanı, André Lhote'tur. İstanbullu üst düzey
bir ailenin üyesi olan Nurullah Berk, Sanâyi-i Nefîse Mektebi'nden mezun olduktan
sonra kendi imkânlarıyla Paris'e gider ve Académie des Beaux-Arts'ta eğitim alır.
Ayrıca André Lhote ve Fernand Léger'nin atölyelerinde de çalışır. Ancak bu dönemde
Lhote'un eğitim tarzını kavramaz; sonraki gelişinde ise bu eğitimleri iyice anlar.
Ziapour gibi Berk de kendi ülkesinde Kübizm'in savunucusu olarak tanınır. O da
Lhote ve Ziapour gibi yazar kimliğine sahiptir ve modern sanatı Türkiye toplumuna
tanıtmak için gazetelerde, dergilerde yazar. Türkiye'nin modern sanat tarihi için
kaynak oluşturur ve bu yönde çaba gösterir.
Bu tez çalışmasında André Lhote'un yanında çalışan, onun düşüncesini kavrayan iki
sanatçı, İran'dan Jalil Ziapour ve Türkiye'den Nurullah Berk, karşılaştırmalı bir
biçimde incelenecektir. Söz konusu sanatçıların ressamlık ve yazarlık kimlikleri
merkeze alınacak, düşünceleri metinlerinden okunacak ve karşılaştırılacaktır. Gerek
metinlerinde gerek resimlerinde ortak ustaları Lhote'un etkisi araştırılacak, Lhote'un
sanat algısı ve kavramlarının, iki farklı doğuyu temsilen 'doğulu' öğrencilerindeki
yankısı incelenecektir. Bunlarla beraber Lhote'un resim tekniği bir eleştiri sistemi
olarak baz alınacak, Ziapour ve Berk'in resimleri üzerinde tetkik yapılarak bu
ressamların Lhote'tan etkilendiği alanlar tespit edilecektir.

Abstract:
This study covers a period in the art history of Iran and Turkey when artists and
thinkers of these countries began to search for new ways and ideas in their fields by
observing Western countries. Fundamental political changes in these countries brought
the acceleration of industrial modernization and also the need for modernization in
culture and art. Both countries mainly took the European countries and their culture as
a model for similar achievements. Iran and Turkey sent their students to Western
countries' scientific and artistic centers. Upon their return to their homeland, these
students were often appointed to government positions, and many of them taught in
educational institutions, including universities and high schools. Here they had the
opportunity to pass on their knowledge to the next generations. Among the many
privileged young people who studied art in the West were Jalil Ziapour from Iran and
Nurullah Berk from Turkey. These two young men went to Paris, which was the most
important art center in the world at the time. They wanted to complete their artistic
knowledge and learn about the basics of art education as well as new ideas in Western
art. Nurullah Berk was born into a wealthy and well-known family and spent his
childhood on Heybeliada, a beautiful island off Istanbul. After completing his primary
education, he attended Sanayi Nefise Mektebi, the famous and outstanding art
academy, where he was trained in painting. His teachers were artists who had also been
trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Istanbul. They, too, had been sent to Paris with
state funds. They belonged to the generation that had lived through World War I and
had followed art training at the Academy des Beaux-Arts and at private academies
such as the Academy Julien. After completing his training at the academy in Istanbul,
he was eager to go to Paris, as were his teachers. Nurullah Berk traveled to Paris three
times and each time with his own financial resources.
Nurullah Berk's first travel to Paris as a young artist was in 1924, shortly after
graduating from Sanayi-i Nefise, and he studied at the Académie des Beaux-Arts. In
1933, he traveled to Paris again and visited the studio of André Lhote. Lhote's teaching
was incomprehensible to him and he felt it was a formula. So he left Lhote's studio and
worked with Fernand Léger, one of his inspirational sources in painting. His third trip
to Paris took place after the war in the late forties when he again attended André
Lhote's classes. This time he felt closer to Lhote's ideas and training. At a similar time
to Berk's second stay in the late 1940s, Jalil Ziapour, an artist from Iran, also went to
Paris. There is no information on whether these two men met at the Academie Lhote.
Jalil Ziapour was born in northern Iran into a middle-class family. After completing
his primary education in his hometown, Bandar Anzali, he went to Tehran where he
studied traditional arts such as carpet, tile, and ceramic design at the Sanaye-e
Mostazrafe-ye Ghadime (Old Academy of Fine Arts). After his training in traditional
arts, Ziapour also attended the newly established Faculty of Fine Arts. Here, thanks to French professors who taught at this school, he learned about current artistic
developments in Western countries. Nevertheless, the artistic society of Iran at that
time was still strongly influenced by figurative artists in the style of Kamal-ol-Molk.
After graduating from the Academy, Ziapour received a French scholarship and went
to Paris. Ziapour first attended the Académie des Beaux-Arts, and when he found that
this was not enough for him, he also visited the studio of Andre Lhote.
Here he completed his knowledge of painting trends in Paris and improved his
compositional skills in painting. Jalil Ziapour and Nurullah Berk came from two
neighboring countries, Iran and Turkey, which underwent similar political and cultural
developments. Both followed a similar path, they received training at the academies
of fine arts in their countries, went to Paris to the same teacher and upon their return
were both active as teachers and most importantly they were both influential writers
on art in their countries. Nevertheless, both countries have their peculiarities, and both
artists naturally have different points of view and different productions.
This study looks at these two artists and compares their careers and artistic and literary
production in terms of the influence of André Lhote's teaching methods and writings.
Both artists mention Lhote as an important figure, mentioning him in their own
writings. The introduction of the thesis deals with the examination of critical concepts
such as "tradition", "classicism" and "modernity" as they are perceived and discussed
in both countries.
The second part of the research deals with art education in these two countries from
the late 19th and early 20th centuries to the 1960s. In Iran, this period includes the
Qajar and Pahlavi periods, and in Turkey, the late Ottoman and early Republican
periods. This section discusses the various activities of the respective governments to
establish art centers, conservatories, and universities, as well as the plans and strategies
of the leaders of these countries for a new atmosphere in the arts.
In the third and fourth parts of the thesis, the lives and works of Jalil Ziapour and
Nurullah Berk are discussed in detail. This includes the life and education of the two
artists, first in their home country, then in Paris. There is also a focus on the production
of texts and the examination of art in those texts. Berk and Ziapour both wrote in
newspapers and magazines about art, Western art, tradition, modernity, and more,
while Berk also published a considerable number of books. Both were also active in
disseminating their ideas at conferences and other public lectures. The artistic
production of both artists will also be examined in depth to understand their goals,
technical details and compositional techniques, possible influences, and also the
connection to their theoretical writings.
The fifth part of this study compares the writings and artistic production of these two
artists with that of their teacher André Lhote. André Lhote was self-taught, but he
devoted his life to his art and his education. And Lhote was a very prolific writer
throughout his life. The fact that he had his "Académie André Lhote" studio in the
same place for almost forty years shows that it remained an important focal point for
aspiring artists. Many of Lhote's students later became important painters and
photographers as well. The fact that Lhote talked a lot about composition itself
contributed to the fact that many of the young artists considered this matter as a definite
path for artistic production in general. Since Lhote was stylistically primarily a cubist
painter, "cubism" as an artistic approach was also a central theme for Berk and Ziapour
in their art production and writings. As a conclusion, we can state that both artists claim to have achieved an East-West synthesis in their art production. Interestingly, the famous retour a l'ordre defined by
Lhote was crucial to this synthesis. Lhote saw the return to art as a return to the
principles of classical painting, which for him were the French classics. But Lhote
showed his students the possibility of understanding "classical" as a principle in
general rather than as a fixed way of drawing. In the case of Nurullah Berk and Jalil
Ziapour, both of whom came from countries with strong local and rural traditions and
also miniature painting, the term "classical" was applied to these local values. Both
painters entered the art canon of their countries as painters who succeeded in
synthesizing East and West in art and created a kind of national language in art.
Although both claimed to have an original local/national approach, it is clear that the
adoption of certain local traditions can lead to similarities when those traditions are
similar.