Artists
Artists in the Collection
38 artists · Page 4 / 5
Neriman Oyman
Figurative painting of an expressionist, fantastical and fairy-tale character; bold colour palettes, dreamlike imagery, a synthesis of East and West
Born in Istanbul in 1965. She trained in the studio of Avni Memedoğlu between 1990 and 1992, and since 1992 has worked from her own studio in Asmalımescit. Describing herself as "a woman who hears colours and sees sounds," she has forged a figurative language of expressionist, fantastical and fairy-tale character; themes such as the place of women in society, poverty, war and migration run through her work in a vividly colourist idiom. With more than thirty solo exhibitions in Turkey and abroad, Oyman celebrated the fortieth year of her artistic life in 2024 with an exhibition staged in the historic Hüsrev Kethüda Hamam in Istanbul.
- ·More than thirty solo exhibitions in Turkey and abroad
- ·Fortieth-anniversary exhibition staged in the historic Hüsrev Kethüda Hamam (Istanbul, 2024)
- ·Subject of a published biography: "Kendini Yaratan Kadın: Neriman Oyman" by Ali Fuat Karaöz
Orhan Umut
A figurative idiom that sets wide-eyed, melancholy figures against broad skies and shoreline scenes
Orhan Umut (b. 1972, Diyarbakır) entered the Painting Department of the Buca Faculty of Education at Dokuz Eylül University in İzmir through the aptitude examination in 1993 and graduated in 1997 from the Hasan Rastgeldi studio. The awards include an Achievement Prize at the 65th State Painting and Sculpture Competition (2004), the Jury Special Prize at the 68th (2007) and an Achievement Prize at the Yunus Emre Painting Competition (2010). Since 1997 Umut has taken part in numerous solo and group exhibitions in İzmir, Istanbul, Ankara and Diyarbakır, and continues in figurative painting — without giving up colour, line, speck and stain — while teaching art in Diyarbakır.
- ·Achievement Prize, 65th State Painting and Sculpture Competition (2004)
- ·Jury Special Prize, 68th State Painting and Sculpture Competition (2007)
- ·Achievement Prize, Yunus Emre Painting Competition (2010)
Raşit Altun
Dreamlike scenes built from thickly worked surfaces and dramatic skies, carrying an existential intensity
Raşit Altun (b. 1980, İzmir) graduated in 2001 from the Department of Visual Arts Education at Anadolu University's Faculty of Education and began teaching the same year. Altun has held a solo exhibition at the Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History in the United States, and in 2015 and 2016 took part in the Turkish delegation's exhibition at the SNBA salon in the Carrousel du Louvre, Paris. Following the series "Mahşer" (Doomsday) and "Araf" (Purgatory), marked by an existential intensity, the artist opened "Sır" (Secret) at Istanbul's AKM in 2025, an exhibition of 50 paintings and 4 sculptures. Working in sculpture as well as painting, Altun continues to work in a studio in Eskişehir.
- ·Opened "Sır" (Secret), an exhibition of 50 paintings and 4 sculptures, at Istanbul's AKM in 2025
- ·Solo exhibition at the Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History, USA
- ·Turkish delegation exhibition at the SNBA salon, Carrousel du Louvre, Paris (2015 and 2016)
Saim Dursun
Thickly textured, colour-driven Anatolian scenes built with the palette knife
Saim Dursun (1959, Elazığ – 2021) owed the turning point of his career to the French art historian Didier Vacher, whom he met in 1989 at the Beyoğlu Municipality Art Gallery; following that encounter he pursued studio work in Istanbul and in France between 1989 and 2003. In thickly textured oils worked with the palette knife he painted the people and daily life of the Anatolian landscape; colour, light and movement are the three essential elements of his work. He received three awards from the town of Le Val in France and held more than forty solo exhibitions in Turkey and abroad. One of his works is held in the collection of the Ankara Museum of Painting and Sculpture.
- ·Awards from Le Val, France: Citoyen d'honneur – la Médaille d'Or (1990), Diplôme d'Excellence – la Médaille d'Or (1994), Le Grand Aigle d'Or (1995)
- ·More than forty solo exhibitions in Turkey and abroad
- ·A work held in the collection of the Ankara Museum of Painting and Sculpture
Selahattin Teoman
Landscapes of Istanbul and the Bosphorus grounded in impressionism, with the emphasis on light and colour
Selahattin Teoman (1901–1980) was a Turkish painter known for his landscapes of Istanbul. He completed the Istanbul Teachers' School (İstanbul Öğretmen Okulu) in 1920 and pursued his work in painting alongside Şevket Dağ and Halil Paşa; in 1954 he worked in the studio of Ali Avni Çelebi at the Academy of Fine Arts. As a member of the Fine Arts Union (Güzel Sanatlar Birliği) he took part in the union's exhibitions and in the State Painting and Sculpture Exhibitions, and he retired from the directorship of the Rumelihisarı Museum. He produced views of Istanbul and the Bosphorus grounded in an impressionist sensibility, in which light and colour come to the fore.
- ·Trained alongside Şevket Dağ and Halil Paşa; worked in the studio of Ali Avni Çelebi at the Academy
- ·Five of his works are held in the collection of the Ankara Museum of Painting and Sculpture
Selman Altun
A surrealist idiom weaving fantastical scenes of balloons carrying houses and castles, floating islands and fairy-tale villages
A surrealist voice in contemporary Turkish painting, Selman Altun constructs on his canvases a dreamlike world lifted into the sky. Fantastical hot-air balloons bearing houses and castles aloft, floating islands, chess motifs and fairy-tale villages are the principal themes of his oil paintings. Signing his canvases "SELMAN", the artist invites the viewer into a poetic universe of the imagination through these finely wrought compositions.
Sema Peyman
A figurative idiom treating Istanbul's historic settings and scenes of everyday life with an impressionist sensibility
Sema Peyman (b. 1960, Istanbul) began painting with her training in the studio of the painter Faruk Cimok, and opened her first solo exhibition in Istanbul in 1993. An artistic life that began in the impressionist manner has in recent years extended to hyperrealist work and the dry pastel technique. Her oil paintings of the historic settings of Beyoğlu and the everyday scenes of Istanbul appear in gallery and auction catalogues, and her works are held in collections in Turkey and abroad.
- ·Trained in the studio of the painter Faruk Cimok
- ·First solo exhibition in Istanbul, 1993
Süleyman Saim Tekcan
The figure of the horse, interlaced with the textures of old script and nourished by the visual traditions of Anatolia and the Ottoman world
Süleyman Saim Tekcan (b. 1940, Trabzon) completed the Painting and Handicrafts Department of the Gazi Institute of Education in Ankara in 1961, and served at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University as professor and as dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts. He led the establishment of original printmaking studios in Turkey, and the wet-printing method he developed is known in the international literature as the "Tekcan technique". In 2004 he founded IMOGA, the Istanbul Museum of Graphic Arts. Since the 1990s the figure of the horse — nourished by Ottoman manuscripts and by the civilisations of Anatolia — has stood at the centre of his work.
- ·Founder of IMOGA, the Istanbul Museum of Graphic Arts (2004)
- ·The wet-printing method he developed is known as the "Tekcan technique"
- ·Presidential Grand Prize for Culture and the Arts (Painting, 2022)
