Fahri Efendi, one of our marine painters, was born in 1857 in the Kumkapı district of Istanbul. He started the Naval School in 1870. In 1876, he received the rank of Lieutenant Mülazım-ı Sani. He graduated from the deck class of his school as an officer. His talent for painting has been discovered. For this reason, he was appointed as an art teacher at the Naval High School in Kasımpaşa. He worked in this school for many years. Fahri Efendi, a sailor, and a painter worked as an honorary art teacher at Darüşşafaka High School between 1879-1903. He later stated that he was particularly notable for his services at this school.

Based on the Western understanding. When we look at the 19th-century Turkish painting, it is seen that there are especially painters from the Naval School. It is known that those who graduated from here turned to marine themes. As a compulsory result of this orientation, we come across being influenced by the painting of the sea. This situation means adopting the West as a model. Besides, this situation has led to the training of extremely important marine painters.

Contemporary painting constitutes a 1.5-century history of Turkish painters. The sea themes that our contemporary painting art performed in various periods have especially the 17th and 18th-century Dutch influence. It was also influenced by 18th and 19th century British Marine painting. The processing of the sea theme in the paintings started in the middle of the 18th century and goes back to the present. This theme, which is a European-centered painting tradition, has its origins in the 15th, 16th, and 17th-century harbors (coastal maps). Turkish painters were significantly influenced by the Ship Portrait movement, which is based on the decorative ship depictions elaborated here. In the early days of this trend, it was very influential in North America and the Far East. Over time, this effect spread to almost every country.

There are works of Fahri Efendi on Ottoman naval wars, Ottoman navy ships, and ships sinking in storms. In his drawings, especially the stylistic features of the ship portrait movement come to the fore. This style is also present in the city and nature landscapes painted by Fahri Efendi. In his paintings, Fahri Efendi reflected his passion for the sea in general and left works bearing traces of them. His works are still the favorite of art lovers today.