İsmail Hakkı Bey, who has an important place in our list of marine painters, was born in 1863. The house he was born in is a structure that lives in arms with the sea. He spent his whole life dealing with marine-related professions. He continued his artistic life mainly with sea-oriented works.

He is known as Ayvazovsky as the most famous marine painter in the world. İsmail Hakkı Bey is an artist with a high passion for the sea as much as Ayvazovski. The waves in the sea paintings he painted are matched by the heartbeat of İsmail Hakkı Bey. The artist chose marine civil engineering for his education.

He graduated in 1884 as a naval civil engineer. After receiving his diploma, he started to work at the Naval Ministry Construction Department.

At that time, torpedoes and warships could not be built in Turkish shipyards. İsmail Hakkı Bey was assigned to accompany the construction of the Ottoman torpedo named "Ejder" to be built in Hamburg. After Ejder, which took two years to build, Hakkı Bey developed his interest in painting as a master and became one of the most famous sailor painters. When he returned to the country, he was busy with construction work in the navy.

In 1895, İsmail Hakkı Bey was sent to Hamburg again. He worked here for many years. He resigned when he could not get his salary from the state. He settled in Germany. He worked as an engineer in German naval constructions in Hamburg to survive. On the other hand, he made and sold paintings using his painting skills.

Turkey was declared a constitutional monarchy in 1908, Ismail Hakki Bey was summoned to the country and was given the rank binbaşılık. After the start of the First World War, the National Defense Association was established in Istanbul in 1915 to support the army. The society sold postcards to the famous painters of that period. Hakkı Brain postcards broke sales records.

İsmail Hakkı Bey retired in 1913. However, to benefit from his existing knowledge and experience, he was invited to serve in the state service in 1920. He continued his work as an engineer at the construction bench in İstinye. He finished his service here in 1926. İsmail Hakkı Bey spent his last time in Istanbul's Beykoz district and unfortunately passed away in December 1926.