French painter Germain Fabius brest (1823-1900) and his works on İstanbul

Germain Fabius Brest (1823-1900) who began his the art life as a scenery artist in Marseille came to Istanbul in 1855. The artist who stayed in Istanbul more than three years, visited Trabzon and its neighbors in 1858 for a short time. The artist who shaped his art with his trainings in Marseille Fine Arts School and Barbizon Ecole, produced artworks in scenery pictures in the limits of Romanticism movement. His Istanbul journey became a milestone in his art life and it enabled him to produce visual materials that he would use until the end of his life. The artist who participated in Gallery exhibitions with his own country's sceneries till 1855, started to join to this Galleries mostly with Istanbul and Turkey themed artworks since 1857. Brest, who also painted pictures that are Venice and Algeria themed, rose to prominence in his art especially with his Istanbul themed artworks. In his Istanbul and Turkey paintings which enabled him to be referred among 19. century orientalists, the artist painted Ottoman social life as it is on its own and without exaggeration in a scenery including architectural items and natural environment. By this research, it has been understood that some paintings of Germain Fabius Brest which was painted in a realistic approach have the characteristics of source/document for that period of time and it has been detected that he has a lot of Istanbul themed paintings. On the other hand, as a pioneer especially about picturesque Istanbul paintings, he had an influence on other artists.