Megerdich Jivanian (From Thomas Allom)

Place: Istanbul

Biography:

Megerdich Jivanian, also known as Megerdich Jivanian (from Thomas Allom), was a Turkish-Armenian artist who was born in Istanbul, Turkey in the late 19th century. He is known for his painting 'A Coffee House in Tophane', which depicts the interior setting of an Ottoman coffeehouse. The painting is an oil copy of a composition by Thomas Allom, which appears in the first volume of Robert Walsh’s book Constantinople and Scenery of Seven Churches of Asia Minor. Walsh’s book, which was published in two volumes in London in 1838, includes engravings and acted as an important visual resource on Istanbul. The engravings were used as models by numerous artists, including Megerdich Jivanian. In the corresponding text, Robert Walsh provides information on the interior organisation and decoration of the coffeehouse and relates various details ranging from making music and smoking pipes to the plays of the meddah (storytellers).