Scientific botanical art and Nebahat Yakar example

Plants have been a source of inspiration for art since the existence of human beings. However, the acceptance of plants as an art theme dates back much later than animal figures. It is known that in the periods when plants were started to be processed as stylized motifs, far from details, their healing aspects and life cycles were explained with written text. According to the botanical book author Carolyn Fry, with the making of the first scientific plant classification in the 18th century, plant drawings began to serve its own life cycle. In this process, the expression of plant illustrations became stronger and became a part of botanical science as a whole without accompanying texts. In this field, which is defined as the scientific botanical art, serious policies are carried out in many countries, departments are opened in universities, and cartoonists are offered opportunities for self-development. Plant drawings are made by the artists of the countries themselves, and this field is accepted as a professional group. According to scientific plant painter Hülya Korkmaz, one of the first graduates of the Illustrated Flora of Turkey Project; It took the 20th century for this development to start and progress in Turkey. While these developments were taking place in the world, plant drawings in botanical researches in Turkey were made by artists abroad for very serious amounts. In this study; The descriptive literature review model of the qualitative research method was used. In the study, mostly foreign sources were used due to the limitedness of visual data, domestic and written sources, which have an important place in history. The research consists of six parts. The first part started with the introduction. In the second part, the development of scientific botanical art in Turkey is discussed in detail through the general history. In the third chapter, the concept of scientific botanical art is explained, the importance of plant morphology and anatomy in terms of scientific botanical art is mentioned, the advantages and disadvantages of the methods and techniques used in this field are discussed through the works of the artists in the field, and the points where scientific botanical art differs from botanical art are mentioned. In the fourth chapter, the methods to be followed while criticizing a work of art are described in terms of visual design principles and elements. In the fifth chapter, the life of Nebahat Yakar, the first scientific botanical artist after the 1933 University Reform, is mentioned, and 15 selected scientific botanical illustrations of the artist; evaluated through botanical science and art study methods. In addition, the studies conducted by the researcher during the scientific plant illustration drawing training of İrem Sönmez, a second generation graduate of the Illustrated Flora of Turkey Project, are included, together with their analysis. The sixth chapter consists of conclusions and recommendations. In the works of Nebahat Yakar, who is considered to be the most important scientific botanist artist among the results obtained after the evaluations; It does not include the scaling method used in the scientific botanical art.