Osman Hamdi Bey spotlighted in Met ‘Orientalism’ exhibition

The Metropolitan Museum of Art will spotlight 19th-century representations of the “East” in a major upcoming exhibition that also brings renewed international attention to Ottoman artist Osman Hamdi Bey.

Titled “Orientalism: Between Fact and Fantasy,” the exhibition will run from June 12, 2026, to Feb. 28, 2027. It examines how images of the “Orient” were shaped through art, cultural encounters, colonialism, imperial expansion and modernization during the 19th century.

Organized through a collaboration between the museum’s Department of European Paintings and Department of Islamic Art, the exhibition marks the first time the institution has mounted a show centered specifically on Orientalism. It will bring together about 180 works, including paintings, drawings, photographs, books, architectural objects, weapons and armor, textiles, garments, glass, ceramics and metalwork.

Paintings by Osman Hamdi Bey on display at the Pera Museum. (Photo courtesy of Pera Museum)

The exhibition narrative begins with Napoleon’s 1798 invasion of Egypt and extends to works by Osman Hamdi Bey, positioning his art within broader European and Ottoman visual traditions of the period.

Osman Hamdi Bey’s paintings will be presented alongside works by French painter Jean-Léon Gérôme and other 19th-century artists. Curators describe the pairing as an opportunity to reassess Hamdi Bey’s relationship to Western Orientalist painting and the distinctive space he created within that tradition.

The Met characterizes Hamdi Bey as one of the most complex figures of the 19th century and highlights his role in depicting modern, cosmopolitan life in the Ottoman Empire from an internal perspective. The museum also frames his work as a counterpoint to stereotypical and exoticized portrayals of the “East” produced by many Western Orientalist artists.

“The Tortoise Trainer” by Osman Hamdi Bey. (Getty Images Photo)

Separately, a selection of Osman Hamdi Bey’s works is currently on view at the Pera Museum, operated by the Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation. The museum’s collection exhibition focuses on his paintings as part of its broader Orientalist art holdings.

A leading intellectual of the Tanzimat period of the Ottoman Empire, Osman Hamdi Bey contributed to fields including painting, archaeology, museology and art education, securing a lasting place in Turkish cultural history.

Works featured in the Pera Museum exhibition include some of his best-known paintings, such as “The Tortoise Trainer” and “Two Musician Girls,” offering viewers a closer look at his visual style, figural composition and role in Ottoman modernization.

DAILYSABAH