Kuzgun Acar - Metal Sculptures

Kuzgun Acar (28 February 1928 – 4 February 1976) was a Turkish sculptor, well known for his works in metal. He is best known for his abstract sculpture and is considered one of the pioneers of modern sculpture in Turkey.
He worked with wire mesh, making sculptures reminiscent of Naum Gabo (1890–1977). He taught painting at Istanbul Atatürk High School and painting-sculpturing at the high school he finished. He displayed his sculpture works in wire at a personal exhibition in the American news Center in 1957. Between 1958 and 1960, he experimented making various forms with wire, nails, metal bars and scrap by gas welding. He performed experiments in enameling. His work created in nails was awarded the first prize at the Biennale de Paris in 1961. 

Lyrical abstraction Orhon Mübin

"Mübin Orhon, (1924–1981) studied political sciences in Istanbul. Following his graduation in 1947, he traveled to France for his master’s in economy. During his first years in Paris, he attended drawing classes at the Grande Chaumière Academy. Between 1950 and 1953, he participated to the exhibitions of Salon de Réalités Nouvelles, and between 1956 and 1957 he took part in Salons de Mai. He opened his first solo exhibition in 1956 at Galerie Iris Clert, one of the most avant-garde galleries of the French capital. During that period he established close ties with César, Takis, Messagier and Giacometti; his close friendship with Charles Maussion that began in the same period, lasted a life time. In 1964, he returned to Turkey to do his military service and continued with his shows in Istanbul for a while. In 1973 he went back to France, and died in Paris in 1981.

 In the beginning of the 1960’s, Robert and Lisa Sainsbury showed great interest in Mübin’s works. As a result of this interest that steadily increased until the demise of the artist, sixty three of his works are collected by the Sainsbury couple, in addition to other works in their collection by Degas, Bonnard, Modigliani, Picasso, Balthus, Giacometti and Bacon. Thus Mübin, along with his close friend Maussion, became one of the two most greatly represented artists of the post-war “Ecole de Paris” era in this collection. In 1996, Mübin’s works in the Sainsbury Collection were exhibited in Turkey for the first time, at the Yapı Kredi Kazım Taşkent Gallery, under the curatorship of Ali Artun. Mübin Orhon has represented by Gallery Nev for twenty years. The artist's archive has protected by Gallery Nev."(galerinev.com)

Erol Akyavas

Akyavaş was born in İstanbul in 1932. Akyavaş was a guest student at the Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu Studio at the İstanbul Academy of Fine Arts from 1950 to 1952. He then travelled to Florence and Paris where he enrolled at the Fernand Léger and André Lhote studios and joined the Cercle et Carré group. Akyavaş travelled to the US in 1954 to study architecture under Ludwig Mies van der Rohe at the Illinois Institute of Technology and worked with the architect Eero Saarinen from 1960 to 1962. He settled in New York in 1967 and later shared his time between New York and İstanbul. Akyavaş had solo exhibitions around the world since 1950s: Cleveland and New York in the U.S.; Rome, Milan and Turin in Italy; Bremen, Stuttgart, Cologne in Germany; Bern and Zurich in Switzerland; Nicosia, Cyprus; Paris, France; as well as at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg in Russia. His works were also included in various group shows such as “New Acquisitions” at the Museum of Modern Art (1962), “Paintings from the Museum of Modern Art” at the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. (1963), “Turkish Artists in New York” in New York (1970), 1st and 2nd İstanbul Biennials (1987,1989), “Parİstanbul” at the international Art Centre in Paris (1990). Even before studying architecture in Illinois, Akyavaş’ art strongly reflected his interest in this field, as he produced a series of abstract paintings referencing Islam, Sufism, miniatures and calligraphy. His works can be found in various prestigious institutions including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and Berlin and Stuttgart Art Museums as well as in numerous local and international private collections. Akyavaş passed away in Amerika in 1999. (biyografi.net)

 

Princess Fahrelnissa Zeid

Princess Fahrelnissa Zeid (1901 – 5 September 1991) was a Turkish artist whose work blended the elements of Islamic and Byzantine art from the East with abstract and other influences from the West. She worked in a variety of media such as large oil paintings, collages and stained glass panels.
She married into the Hashemite royal family of Iraq and is the mother of Prince Ra'ad, the present claimant to the Iraqi throne.
Fahrelnissa was born in the Turkish island of Büyükada on the coast of Istanbul in 1901 to a prominent Ottoman family. Her father was Muhammad Shakir Pasha Kabaaj (Kabaağaçlı), an Ottoman diplomat, brigadier, photographer, and historian, and also the brother of Grand Vizier Cevat Pasha. Her mother was Sara Izmat Khanum from Crete.
She was educated at Lycée Notre Dame de Sion Istanbul and Pansion Bnagiotti. She was then one of the first women to attend the Fine Arts Academy (Güzel Sanatlar Akademisi) in Istanbul,later studying at the Académie Ranson in Paris under Roger Bissiere and Stahlbach.

 Her first marriage was to novelist Izzet Melih Devrim, one of Servet-i Fünun writers, in 1920. This union produced three children: Faruk (1921 – 1924), artist Nejad Devrim (1923 – 1995) and director/actress Şirin Devrim (1926 – 2011).In Athens, November 1933, she married Prince Zeid bin Hussein, the ambassador of Iraq to Ankara and brother of King Faisal I. With Zeid she had only one child, a son, Prince Ra'ad.
Her first one-woman show was held in Istanbul in 1944, followed by exhibitions in London and Paris. Her New York City début came in 1950 when she exhibited a series of large abstract canvases at the Hugo Gallery. She went on to participate in almost 50 exhibitions in Europe, U.S.A. and the Middle East.
Her husband died in 1970, and in 1975 she moved to Amman, Jordan, where her son Ra'ad lived, and where she established the Fahrelnissa Zeid Institute of Fine Arts. She died 5 September 1991 and is buried in the Royal Mausoleum, Raghdan Palace, Amman, Jordan.
In October 2012, a number of her paintings were sold at auction by Bonhams for a total of £2,021,838.Wikipedia