HISTOIRE DE L'ART / ART HISTORY
Organisation du 10e CONGRES INTERNATIONAL D'ART TURC

Modernization in the Turkish Republic necessitated a cultural and art policy different than during the Ottoman Empire. Art and artists have supported reforms and helped to the definition of the Republic's visual image.
Starting in 1922, Atatürk emphasized in his various speeches that Turkey's real masters were peasants and in this context he suggested that artists should consider this subject in their paintings. Therefore the new Turkish Republic, that won the Independence war with the help of peasants, praised the peasants and farmers. Artists adopted subjects related to peasants and farmers in their paintings. They considered agriculture as the basis of production and development. The subject of peasants and farmers has been used repeatedly by the artists almost till today within different ideological and political context.