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So far nothing
is known about this painter, who signed himself as Commander Carelli, titled
‘Golden Horn’, a watercolour thought to be painted circa 1860. Possibly
he represented one of the members of the ‘Italian school’, court painters
invited by the Sultan, many of whom remained to add to the Latin Levantine
population of Istanbul.
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Sydney
La Fontaine was a Smyrna Levantine and a gifted watercolourist. Here he
depicts a scene familiar to many Istanbul Levantines, Moda bay, where their
yatch club was based. The islands in the distance are the Prince’s Islands,
and the date of both works is thought to be circa 1880s. The lower painting
is a scene again probably done on commission as it depicts the summer retreat
of many Smyrna Levantines, Lice (Ilica).
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The
pen and ink painting below has been in the Whittall family for a long time,
and possibly commissioned by them, and possibly a Bosphorus scene executed
in the latter part of the 19th century. The painting has been signed by
M.C. Robinson, but no information on this person was found and there is
no guarantee he was a Levantine or even a long term Istanbul resident.
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Henry
John van Lennep,
‘Turkish Cavass’ lithograf of C. Parsons, 1862 - New York. Henry John van
Lennep, son of Dutch Levantines Richard and Adéle Marie (de Heidenstam),
was a missionary, born in Smyrna in 1815, descended from an eminent family
of Dutch scholars and writers, made many exploring expeditions, learned
a whole host of Eastern languages, as a result of which he was able to publish
in 1870 ‘Travels in Asia Minor’, illustrated such as example below, unusually
in that time, by his own hand.
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The examples of paintings done by Raffael Corsini, active in Smyrna, 1830-1880, painting mostly American and British ships in the harbour, works now commanding fair sums ($1-3.000). The one above is ‘Barque Juniata, Capt., Joseph Cheever Entering Smyrna April 22th 1852’ and below the same ship, ‘Barque Juniata, Capt., Joseph Cheever, at Smyrna Bay 1852’. Hardly nothing is known about this artist apart from he lived in Cordelio.
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The painting above also done by Rafael Corsini, is of another American bark ‘James Ramsay’ of Baltimore, dated 1833. The Peabody Museum in Salem, Massachusetts has 15 works by the artist, all of American sailing vessels..
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Bark ‘Lincoln’, another painting by Rafael Corsini, done 1853. The background in this is more true to life than some of the others where dramatic shore fortification are added possibly to add drama to the scene?
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At present an unidentified man and below his wife.
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Some of the various murals done by Jak Edizel in St. Antoine Catholic Church of Bayraklı.
Jak Edizel was commissioned by Mr. [Herbert?] Whittall when he was a young man, in his early twenties, to copy many masters for him. He used to say that this was a defining point in his career as a painter; he learned so much in that process. In addition has painted murals at the St. Polycarp Catholic Church and a large painting of Jesus that is hung in SS. Rosario Church in Easter time and he also used to paint publicity paintings on building facades.
Jak Edizel was commissioned by Mr. [Herbert?] Whittall when he was a young man, in his early twenties, to copy many masters for him. He used to say that this was a defining point in his career as a painter; he learned so much in that process. In addition has painted murals at the St. Polycarp Catholic Church and a large painting of Jesus that is hung in SS. Rosario Church in Easter time and he also used to paint publicity paintings on building facades.
