Pioneer Art Historians in Turkey
The separate treatment of art history as a field in Turkey started in 1943 following its establishment as an independent discipline under the roof of the Faculty of Letters at Istanbul University. Before this date, prominent names in the field such as Celâl Esad Arseven (1875-1971) and Rıfkı Melûl Meriç (1901-1964) had produced significant publications in different areas of art history. These names are followed by Suut Kemal Yetkin (1903-1980) with his great impact on art historiography through art philosophy and his studies on paintings and Mazhar Şevket İpşiroğlu (1908-1985), also known as the “founder of modern art history in Turkey”. The field has a 65 year old history in our country, and the two most significant contemporary scholars with numerous publications are Oktay Aslanapa (1914 -) and Semavi Eyice (1923 -). Both scholars are pioneers and contributors to the education of many young scholars in this field.
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