Hanzade Sultan by Halife Abdülmecid Efendi (1868-1944)

Mavi Boncuk |

• Title: Hanzade Sultan
• Creator: Halife Abdülmecid Efendi (1868-1944) [1]
• Creator Lifespan: 1868/1944
• Date Created: 1936
• Physical Dimensions: 104,5 x 80 cm
• Type: Painting
• Rights: Sakıp Sabancı Museum
• External Link: 
  Sakıp Sabancı Museum
• Medium: Oil on canvas
• 
  

Zehra Hanzade ibrahim Osmanoglu (1923-1998), Abdülmecid Efendi's granddaughter, was born in the Dolmabahçe Palace. Her father was Omer Faruk Efendi and her mother was Sabiha Sultan, the daughter of Sultan Vahideddin. Thus Hanzade Sultan, along with her sisters Neslişah Sultan and Neda Sultan, were the only members of the Ottoman dynasty to be descended from the royal bloodline on both sides of the family. Hanzade Sultan was exiled to Nice with the rest of the dynasty in 1924, before her first birthday, and spent the rest of her childhood in France. After her marriage to Kavalah Prince Mehmed Ali Ibrahim in 1940, she settled in Egypt. When the Egyptian monarchy was abolished in 1952, she was exiled once again, and moved to Paris to spend the rest of her life there.

Hanzade Sultan is one of many portraits Abdülmecid Efendi painted of members of his family. These works included portraits of his father, Sultan Abdulaziz, and previous Ottoman sultans, as well as intellectuals and artists from his inner circle. Abdülmecid Efendi painted his granddaughter in Nice in 1936, when he was sixty-eight and she was thirteen years old. The young Hanzade poses for her grandfather with her hands folded in her lap, seated in a chair placed in front of a saffron-coloured drape. Her blue kimono with embroidered flowers on the lapels and sleeves could be an indication that the Japonisme movement, which had a great influence on European fashion during the 1930s, was also in favor among members of the Ottoman dynasty.

Oya – Bülent Eczacıbaşı Collection

Istanbul Museum of Modern Art / Long-term loan

[1] A member of the Ottoman dynasty, Abdülmecid II was the son of Sultan Abdülaziz. After his cousin Vahidettin ascended to the throne in 1918, Abdülmecid II came to Dolmabahçe Palace as heir apparent. During the years of the War of Independence, he was unanimously elected Caliph by the Grand National Assembly, over other princes, due to his progressive personality and supportive stance.

From his father's lifetime, Abdülmecid grew up in an environment of Westernization movements at the palace. This continued after his father's death. Besides painting, Abdülmecid Efendi was also interested in other branches of art, such as music, literature, and calligraphy. Furthermore, Abdülmecid Efendi supported artistic production by taking numerous artists under his patronage at the palace and also amassing a collection of paintings. Having studied painting under prominent teachers of the time, such as Osman Hamdi Bey and Salvatore Valerie, Abdülmecid Efendi focused particularly on portraiture. After portraits, he most intensively focused on landscapes. He paints romantic, timeless landscapes from various districts of Istanbul, highlighting pictorial values.

"Self-Portrait" brings together Abdülmecid's statesmanship, which he was forced to abandon years earlier, and his artistic persona. The dynastic insignia he wears point to the empire to which he is related by blood, while also suggesting that the painter, as the artist, is recording the longing for this loss.