The place of Vasily Vereshchagin in Russian art and orientalist impressions in his paintings

This research aims to research Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin who is one of the most important artists of the XIX. century, his place in Russian painting and and his orientalist paintings which are influenced by Turkish-Islamic art. 66 works of the artist has been studied as sample. There was a special interest to Eastern countries and culture in the XIX. century in Europe. This interest turned into a trend and created the orientalism that affected many artists in the same century. The trend of orientalism spread over not only to Western artists but also to Eastern ones. So, Eastern artists started to look at their own culture with the Western eye. Vasily Vereshchagin, the subject of the research, is one of the artists who used the Eastern countries as a theme in his works. The artist produced his first works under the theme of nature and war with the contribution of military education he received since his childhood. Although he was born in a wealthy family, he left his mark with his works, especially focusing on social problems. The fact that he always emphasized his belief in justice and equality in his works is another characteristic that makes the artist unique. The artist's education on classicalism from The Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg and also the orientalism education from the famous French painter Jean-Léon Gérôme in Paris were very influential in making his style different from other artists living in the same period. He created valuable works of art which can be evaluated in the context of Turkish Islamic Art by combining his realistic attitude with orientalism by means of the education he had. Because the artist made use of the East; especially Turkish-Islamic architecture, Turkish people and Turkish culture when he produced his works. In this study literature survey method was used. Russian, English and Turkish sources were used to analyze his works. As a result of this research, Vasily Vereshchagin's position as a sensitive, fair and realistic artist in Russian painting and the importance of introducing Turkish-Islamic art to her works has been revealed. Although the artist died in 1904, his works still have the same striking effect on the audience.