Paintings depicting the four seasons by pioneering Ottoman-to-Republic-era artist Halil Pasha have sold for a record 537,600 pounds ($690,000) at a Sotheby's auction in London, marking the highest price ever achieved for the artist.
An earlier version of the works, dating to the early 1900s, is currently on view at Pera Museum as part of the ongoing exhibition “On the Water’s Edge: The Life and Art of Halil Pasha.”
Organized by the Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation, the exhibition continues to present a wide selection of Halil Pasha’s works alongside archival documents, photographs and sketchbooks, keeping the artist in focus both in Türkiye and internationally.
The paintings, dated to 1912 and depicting the four seasons, were sold at a Sotheby’s auction in London at a record price. Estimated at between 200,000 and 300,000 pounds, the work exceeded expectations and became the most expensive series by the artist to date.
Comprising four panels, the work was among the standout sales in Sotheby’s “Orientalist Art” auction, which brings together 19th- and early 20th-century paintings portraying the landscapes, people and cultures of North Africa, Egypt, the Levant, Arabia and the Ottoman world. Surpassing estimates, the sale drew significant international interest and made the current attention toward Halil Pasha’s production more visible.
An early version of the paintings, dating to the early 1900s, can be seen at the Pera Museum. Featured in the “On the Water’s Edge: The Life and Art of Halil Pasha” exhibition, these works offer visitors a closer look at an earlier interpretation of a theme that has gained international recognition.
The exhibition explores Halil Pasha’s artistic practice shaped across Istanbul, Paris and Egypt, focusing on his portraits, still lifes and especially landscapes, while highlighting his relationship with light and nature.
Visitors can also examine a broader range of the artist’s production, including “The Cavalryman,” previously part of the Versace Collection and sold at Sotheby’s, along with archival documents, photographs and sketchbooks. Running through Aug. 23 at the Pera Museum, the exhibition sheds light not only on Halil Pasha’s works but also on the environment, production processes and period that shaped his artistic vision.
Halil Pasha
Halil Pasha is considered among the most famous Turkish painters to graduate from the Imperial Land Engineering School. In 1880, he was sent to the French capital to study in the ateliers of Gérôme and Courtois. Here he received a vigorous training in the tenets of academic figure painting, but in Paris also discovered the art of the Impressionists, which breathed new vigour into his landscapes.
Upon his return to Istanbul in 1888, where he taught at various military schools and later served as Director of the School of Fine Arts, he became a formative influence on the Impressionist movement in Türkiye, known as the “Generation of 1914.”
