Pera Museum

Pera Museum

The Pera Museum is an art museum located in the Tepebaşı quarter of the Beyoğlu district in Istanbul. It is particularly renowned for its focus on 19th-century Orientalist art, alongside important collections reflecting Anatolian cultural history.

History

The Pera Museum was founded in 2005 by the Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation. It is housed in the historic former Bristol Hotel, a distinguished building designed by architect Achille Manoussos and completed in 1893.

Between 2003 and 2005, the building was carefully restored and transformed into a modern museum by architect Sinan Genim, who preserved the original façade while redesigning the interior to meet contemporary museum standards.

Collections

In addition to hosting international temporary exhibitions, the Pera Museum is home to three major permanent collections:

• Orientalist Painting Collection
• Anatolian Weights and Measures Collection
• Kütahya Tiles and Ceramics Collection

Orientalist Painting Collection

The Orientalist Painting Collection features significant works by European, Ottoman, and Turkish artists, offering a rich visual narrative of the Ottoman world as seen through both Western and local perspectives.

Highlights include masterpieces by Osman Hamdi Bey, such as his most famous painting, The Tortoise Trainer (1906), as well as:

• Kökenoğlu Rıza Efendi (1871)
• Two Musician Girls (1880)
• Girl with Pink Cap (1904)

Other notable works include:

• Foreign Ambassadors Received at the Topkapı Palace during the Reign of Sultan Ahmed III (1725), by Jean-Baptiste van Mour
• Sultan Ahmed III Receiving the Dutch Ambassador Cornelis Calkoen (1727), by Jean-Baptiste van Mour
• Harem of the Topkapı Palace (1652), by Franz Hermann
• Enjoying Coffee, by an unknown artist of the French school
• A Woman in Turkish Dress, by Jean-Étienne Liotard
• Enjoyment of Göksu Creek, by Fausto Zonaro
• Housemaid (1880), by Jules Joseph Lefebvre
• Portrait of Charles Gravier, Count of Vergennes, in Turkish Attire, by Antoine de Favray
• Portrait of the Countess of Vergennes in Turkish Attire, by Antoine de Favray

Anatolian Weights and Measures Collection

The Anatolian Weights and Measures Collection comprises over 10,000 objects, spanning from prehistoric times to the present day. It includes a wide variety of scales and measuring instruments used across Anatolia for measuring weight, length, and volume.

These objects illustrate measurement practices in diverse fields such as commerce, architecture, land surveying, shipping, jewelry making, and pharmacy, providing valuable insight into daily life and technological development throughout history.

Kütahya Tiles and Ceramics Collection

The Kütahya Tiles and Ceramics Collection began in the 1980s under the auspices of the Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation. Today, it consists of more than 800 pieces, primarily dating from the 18th to the 20th centuries.

Although only a selection of the collection is on display at any given time, these works offer an excellent overview of the artistry, craftsmanship, and stylistic diversity of Kütahya ceramic production.