Hüseyin Zekâî Pasha (1860-1919), a prominent representative of the "Military Painters" generation, which played a significant role in the development of Western-style canvas painting in Turkey, not only left his mark with his paintings but also played a pioneering role in our art history through activities in various fields such as archiving, documentation, photography, museology, collecting, and art writing. Serving in important positions at Yıldız Palace during the reign of Abdulhamid II for approximately thirty years, Zekâî Pasha, who produced a limited number of works during his lifetime, most of which are now in museums, has not had a book published about his life and works nearly a century after his death.
To fill the gaps in the art history literature regarding Ottoman painters who are now spoken of with praise but whose lives, ideas, and works we lack detailed information about, and to emphasize the necessity of delving into the sources of the period in such research, this book, published by Bozlu Sanat Yayınları as a cultural service, rewrites Hüseyin Zekâî Pasha's life story based on interviews with the artist's grandson, period sources, and archival documents. Information about the artist's life and works is presented to the reader along with supporting photographs, paintings, and documents. The book includes the complete text of the 1913 book "Mübeccel Hazineler," in which the artist discusses topics such as architecture, art history, calligraphy, decoration, photography, archaeology, museology, painting, collecting, and the preservation of ancient artifacts. The entire text has been simplified for easy understanding, enriched with original photographs, and annotated.