The concept of water as a cultural element and its impact on Turkish painting art

Beyond being a basic necessity since the beginning of the universe, different meanings has been attributed to water, which has transformed and varied as a result of necessities, beliefs, cultures and changing technology. The issue of this research is analyzing the change and transformation of the element of water in Turkish painting art; the significant element connected different cultures, acted as a common link among people and has always been the same. Throughout the history of art, the concept of water, which is a cultural element, has been analyzed on the basis of the very first design forms, through today's interdisciplinary narratives in many different semantic layers in artworks. In first section, the focus is on the element of water, which is the resource of cultural development in terms of its divine and sacred attributions in ancient ages, its reflections in mythologies, its contributions to human beings and its impact on shaping artistic perceptions. In the second section of the research, the role of the element of water in the occurrence of Turkish painting art, its place in artworks as a theme although it is also existent in miniatures, impact of the very first Turkish painters, who were soldier artists graduated from naval academy and development of depiction water by 1914 generation painters will be presented. Finally, in the last section the goal is to present the process of technical, narrative and conceptual transformation of the element of water in Turkish painting art starting from the era of Republic until today.