Mustafa Râkim ( ota, مصطفى رآقم;
Modern Turkish
Turkish ( , ), also referred to as Turkish of Turkey (''Türkiye Türkçesi''), is the most widely spoken of the Turkic languages, with around 80 to 90 million speakers. It is the national language of Turkey and Northern Cyprus. Significant smal ...
: ''Mustafa Râkım'') (1757–1826), was an
Ottoman calligrapher. He extended and reformed
Hâfiz Osman
Hâfiz Osman ( ota, حافظ عثمان Modern Turkish: ''Hâfız Osman'') (1642–1698) was an Ottoman calligrapher noted for improving the script and for developing a layout template for the hilye which became the classical approach to page ...
's style, placing greater emphasis on technical perfection, which broadened the calligraphic art to encompass the
Sülüs script as well as the
Nesih
Naskh ( ar, , qalam an-naskh, from the verb , , 'to copy', from n-s-kh root (ن-س-خ)) is a smaller, round script of Islamic calligraphy. Naskh is one of the first scripts of Islamic calligraphy to develop, commonly used in writing administrativ ...
script.
[Mustafa Rakım Efendi]
/ref>
Life and career
Mustafa Râkim was born in Unye on the Black Sea in 1758. When he was very young, his father, Mehmed Kaptan, took him to Istanbul to live with his brother, İsmail Zühdi Efendi, who was an established calligrapher. After Ismail was appointed as an instructor of calligraphy at the Imperial Palace, the young Râkim received his formal training there studying under his brother. Mustafa Râkim would become Ismail Zühidi's most celebrated pupil.
Ismail Zühidi and Mustafa Râkim went on to develop their own style of calligraphy based on the work of Hâfiz Osman
Hâfiz Osman ( ota, حافظ عثمان Modern Turkish: ''Hâfız Osman'') (1642–1698) was an Ottoman calligrapher noted for improving the script and for developing a layout template for the hilye which became the classical approach to page ...
. They were able to develop a style of ''celî sülüs'' that was aesthetically pleasing, something that other calligraphers had not been able to do. Râkim also reformed the calligraphic shape of the tughra script.
With the revolutionary changes brought about in calligraphy by Mustafa Râkim,[Haşim Söylemez, Türk Picassosu Rakım Efendi, Aksiyon Dergisi, Sayı 455, 25.08.2003]
/ref> scholars treat Turkish calligraphic art history into two key eras: "Pre-Râkim" and "Post-Râkim". He was able to accomplish what nobody before him could in the Jali- Thuluth script and tughra
A tughra ( ota, طغرا, ṭuġrā) is a calligraphic monogram, seal or signature of a sultan that was affixed to all official documents and correspondence. Inspired by the tamgha, it was also carved on his seal and stamped on the coins minted ...
s of sultans. By finding the ideal measurement between the letter thickness and pen (writing tool) thickness, he established the style and form for the ideal beauty of tughras.[Uğur Derman, M., ''Letters in Gold: Ottoman Calligraphy from the Sakıp Sabancı Collection,'' Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1998, p. 19]
He is regarded as the first great Turkish painter in the Western sense of painting. His bird, parrot, painting is considered to be the first realist work of Turkish painting.[Ordu İl Kültür ve Turizm Müdürlüğü web sitesi, Erişim tarihi:03.06.2011]
/ref> He drew a portrait of Sultan Selim III
Selim III ( ota, سليم ثالث, Selim-i sâlis; tr, III. Selim; was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1789 to 1807. Regarded as an enlightened ruler, the Janissaries eventually deposed and imprisoned him, and placed his cousin Mustafa ...
who was amazed by his work and recited a poem in his honor in return.
See also
*Culture of the Ottoman Empire
Ottomans culture evolved over several centuries as the ruling administration of the Turks absorbed, adapted and modified the various native cultures of conquered lands and their peoples. There was influence from the customs and languages of Islami ...
*Islamic calligraphy
Islamic calligraphy is the artistic practice of handwriting and calligraphy, in the languages which use Arabic alphabet or the alphabets derived from it. It includes Arabic, Persian, Ottoman, and Urdu calligraphy.Chapman, Caroline (2012). ...
*List of Ottoman calligraphers
The following is an incomplete List of Ottoman Calligraphers:
15th–16th century
*Hâfiz Osman
* Seyyid Kasim Gubari
* Ahmed Karahisari
* Sheikh Hamdullah
* Kahdi Mahmud Efendi (d. 1575)
* Ahmed Pasa (d. 1611) son of Kahdi Mahmud Efendi
* Musta ...
*Ottoman art
Turkish art refers to all works of visual art originating from the geographical area of what is present day Turkey since the arrival of the Turks in the Middle Ages. Turkey also was the home of much significant art produced by earlier culture ...
References
*Rapture and revolution: essays on Turkish literature, Talât Sait Halman, Jayne L. Warner, 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mustafa Rakim
Ottoman culture
Calligraphers from the Ottoman Empire
1757 births
1826 deaths
Muslim artists
18th-century artists from the Ottoman Empire
19th-century artists from the Ottoman Empire