Resim ve Heykel Müzesi (The Istanbul Painting and Sculpture Museum (IRHM) has the distinction of being the first museum in the field of painting and sculpture in Turkey. It was inagurated on September 20, 1937 after the chamber of the crown prince in the Dolmabahçe Palace was allocated for the establishment of the museum.
The core collection of the museum is composed of copies of paintings belonging to famous European painters. Eighty-five paintings by Turkish painters painted for Meclis-i Mebusan (Chamber of Deputies) by famous European and Turkish painters in order to exhibit at the Muze-i Humayun (Museum of the Empire) which was located on Dolmabahçe Street. In addition to the collection called “Elvah-ı Nakşiye (Besetted Paintings),”,the first collection of Istanbul Painting and Sculpture Museum (İRHM) with gifts and many others, has tremendously strengthened the Museum’s holdings.
The majority of the collection, including the more than 2,000 paintings and 400 sculptures from both the 19th and 20th centuries, are chronologically listed on display for art lovers. In the museum, there are collections of paintings by Turkish masters, such as Şeker Ahmet Paşa, Giritli Hüseyin, Süleyman Seyyid, Ahmet Şekür, Hüseyin Zekai Paşa, Osman Hamdi (the founder of the Fine Arts Academy) as well as the work of the sculpture, Yervant Osgan, who was one of the first teachers of the Academy. This museum begins the development in the field of painting and sculpture in Turkey. Moreover, works of familiar painters, such as Abidin Dino and Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu, as well as the works of many famous painters and sculptures are exhibited in the museum.
At first sight, being the extension of the complex of the Dolmabahçe Palace with flowery architecture that in the three stories historic museum garnished with Baroque and Roccoco ornaments and animal figures on the ceiling, which was placed in the walls surrounding the Dolmabahçe Palace,
The museum was closed due to a fire hazard between the years of 1976 and 1980. After 1980, many new names were added to the art society with“ The Exhibitions of Contemporary Artists” which was organized with the Museum of Painting and Sculpture (İRHM) and “The Association of Painting and Sculpture Museums.”
