Gürdal Duyar (20 August 1935, Istanbul – 18 April 2004, Istanbul) was a Turkish sculptor known especially for his Atatürk monuments and busts of famous people. His art is known for its particular modern expressionist style balanced in its abstraction. He is known as one of the pioneers of modern figurative sculpture in Turkey. Although he is also a painter and is noted for his sketching, his best known works are the public sculptures that can be found in the different parks and squares of Istanbul.
Gürdal Duyar | |
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Born | 20 August 1935 |
Died | 18 April 2004(2004-04-18) (aged 69) Istanbul, Turkey |
Resting place | Zincirlikuyu Cemetery |
Education | Rudolf Belling, Ali Hadi Bara |
Alma mater | State Academy of Fine Arts |
Organization | Turkish High Sculptors Society |
Known for | Sculpture, Painting, Sketching |
Works | Abdi İpekçi Peace Monument (2000) Güzel İstanbul (1974) Uşak Atatürk Monument (1965) |
Movement | Republic Era Turkish Sculpture (Turkish:Cumhuriyet Dönemi Heykel Sanatı) |
Family | Neşe Aybey (Sister) |
Signature | |
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He was a student of Rudolf Belling and Ali Hadi Bara at the State Academy of Fine Arts and spent some time abroad after graduating. He worked on sculpture, especially on busts, in Belgium, France and Switzerland in the beginning of his career as a freelance artist. Following his return to Turkey, he became known as a sculptor of Atatürk monuments after garnering significant attention for his Uşak Atatürk Monument (1965). In the period that followed he made several more Atatürk monuments around Turkey. His first personal exhibition was in 1968. Later on many sculptures he made were damaged, removed or got lost, the most infamous case of which was the removal of Güzel İstanbul (1974). He joined the Turkish High Sculptors Society and over the years was commissioned for various monuments/sculptures and held exhibitions of his sculptures and paintings in personal and collective exhibitions. His later major sculptures are Şairler Sofası (1998), Abdi İpekçi Peace Monument (2000) and Necati Cumalı (2002). Among his other public sculptures are the many busts that can be found in the Sanatçılar Park.
Gürdal Duyar was born in 1935[1] in Istanbul as the youngest child of Fikri Duyar[2] and Nezahat Duyar (Erişkin). His older siblings were Erdal Duyar (1927-1975) and Neşe Aybey (1930-2015). His sister Neşe, the middle child of the three siblings, became a well known miniature artist who graduated from, and later taught at, State Academy of Fine Arts.[3]
Duyar attended middle school at the İstanbul Haydarpaşa School. After finishing middle school in 1951, he began his arts education with high school-level classes at the sculpture faculty of the State Academy of Fine Arts[4] which was possible at the time due to a special regulation of the government.[5] At the academy, which today goes by the name Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University,[6] he was a student of German sculptor Rudolf Belling.[5] In 1952[7][8] he entered into the academies High Sculpture division[9] and studied in the atelier of Ali Hadi Bara.[5] He also learned from Zühtü Müridoğlu, and İlhan Koman.[9] He was the first 19 year old to have their sculpture exhibited in the State Painting and Sculpture Museum.[6] He graduated from the academy in 1959 and became a freelance artist.[5][9]
Duyar worked in Belgium, France and Switzerland for some time.[9][10][11] During his time abroad he developed his stonework skills while working with the sculptor León Perrin,[12] a close friend of Le Corbisier.[9][11] While in Geneva and Lausanne he made several busts, aswell as in Belgium and Paris, along with research in the field of Architecture.[9]
Duyar returned to Istanbul around 1963.[11][note 1] Around the time of his return, there was a campaign by the Milliyet newspaper raising money to erect Atatürk monuments in certain provinces. This campaign raised enough money and a contest for the design of these sculptures was started. Duyar was the youngest participant to sign up for this competition.[9] The concept that he presented for the Atatürk monument was chosen as one of the winners and he started sculpting the monument which would be erected in Uşak in 1965. The monument was received well and became Duyars first big breakthrough.[14][15] Through the next decade he was commissioned for many Atatürk monuments around Turkey, becoming well known as a sculptor of Atatürk monuments. Through the decade, which was the last decade of the first half century since the founding of the Turkish Republic, he earned his place among the Atatürk sculptors of the first half century of the Turkish Republic.
His first personal exhibition was at the Taksim Art Gallery in 1968,[16] followed by a second personal exhibition in 1970.[17] He also participated in group exhibitions from time to time in this decade, including those organised by the Turkish High Sculptors Society of which he became a member.[18]
As the Republic was nearing the age of 50, celebrations for the semicentennial were being planned. Duyar, who was an established sculptor and well known in his native Istanbul by this time, was chosen as one of a handful of Istanbul sculptors to make sculptures in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Republic of Turkey. Duyar developed a design for a sculpture that personified Istanbul. It was judged and accepted and Duyar completed the sculpture, which he named Güzel İstanbul and it was erected in 1974 in a public square in Karaköy. However things did not go smoothly from there as the sculpture was the subject of heated debate due to being a nude, leading to its eventual removal at the behest of the more conservative segment of the government in power at the time.[19] The removal of Güzel İstanbul is a topic still discussed to this day.[20] Duyar had put much time and effort into the design and realisation of the sculpture only for it to be broken and removed from its intended location.[21]
It was not the only big efforts of his to be broken during this time. A few years later an Atatürk monument depicting the Independence War which was erected in Kayseri square in 1976 was also broken and removed, this would be the last major Atatürk monument that Duyar would make. During these years many other works of his would be lost or removed; such as the sculpture of Tamburi Cemil Bey in Emirgan Park which was removed at the behest of a manager, his sculpture of Borazan Ismail in Burhaniye which was removed at the behest of the mayor.[22] He did not make any more major public sculptures for a while through the time of these removals. He worked more on portrait sculptures.[23]
In 1985 he opened an exposition containing almost 30 years of work including 6 drawings, 16 busts, 30 figures and 60 never before expositioned oil paintings.[8]
In the late 80's, Duyar discovered Emel Say who was not an established artist at the time. She had finished an unfinished painting of Maui by her mother Zehra Say, a famous painter. When Duyar asked who had altered the painting, she replied that she had only touched it up a little at her mothers request because her mother was no longer able to paint due to old age. To this Duyar replied with "it seems that you have been a painter all along". If it was not for this encounter, Emel Say may not have delved further into the world of Art and become a painter.[24] Emel Say and Duyars' works were exhibited together during the inaugural exhibition of the Asmalımescit Art Gallery in 1995.[25]
Through the turn of century till his death in 2004 he again sculpted some major public sculptures that were erected around Istanbul that still remain in their intended locations. These include Şairler Sofası (1998) the Abdi İpekçi Peace Monument (2000), the Necati Cumalı memorial (2002) and many busts of famous actors and artists that stand in the Akatlar artists park.[note 2]
Duyar is one of the main examples of the school of sculpture that was formed under the influence of Zühtü Müridoğlu and Hadi Bara which saw the rise of abstractionism and the use of non-classical tools and methods for sculpture.[26] His classmates were part of this same movement and they were sculptors such as Kuzgun Acar, Ali Teoman Germaner, Füsun Onur and Tamer Başoğlu, who developed the art of sculpture to a more dynamic and expanded form of art.[27] They are known as the pioneers of abstract sculpture in Turkey.[28]
Duyar was well known for his monument sculptures of Atatürk and busts or other sculpted portraits. He embraced innovation and let the natural flow of the materials lead the way, his monuments were unique and contemporary in contrast with the traditional classic monument sculpture that was more widespread among the existing monuments of Turkey.[29] He was talented in figurative sculpture and his strong artistic ability apparent in his drawing skills is also honed in his busts.[30] According to Hüseyin Gezer, Duyar was especially successful with busts. The character of the person that he was making the bust of would be convincingly and expressively realised while at the same time the busts would correctly be remaining within the values of fine art.[5][31] His ability to capture the character of his subjects and the balance in his compositions was noted[6][16][32] some describe these qualities of his as expressionist.[33] When it comes to figurative sculpture and busts, Duyar was noted as one of the top artists of Turkey.[31]
In 1962 Duyar sculpted a bust of Atatürk for Düzce. The bust, which was a request of the Düzce municipality, was at the time the largest bust of Atatürk in Turkey at 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) tall.[12][23][34][35]
Duyars Monument to the Unknown Soldier (Turkish: Meçhul Asker anıtı), was erected in a park in Uşak in 1964.[36]
In his Uşak Atatürk statue, Duyar shows importance to mass and texture, a trait that comes across especially in his busts.[37] This resulted in an Atatürk statue that was divergent from typical Atatürk statues of the time which were of a more established academic style.[38][39] It depicts a caped Ataturk with his left hand raised and right hand in motion.[40] The monument sculpture towers at 7.5 metres (25 ft). The spatial design around the area of the monument was designed by Erhan Demirok.[14] It was originally erected in the same park that also contained Duyars monument to the unknown soldier.[15][41]
The Uşak monument was completed in 1965.[42] It was a winning design of the competition organised by the Milliyet Newspaper.[36] The sculpture was commissioned as part of a campaign by the Milliyet newspaper, following the coup of 27 May 1960, to gift sculptures of Ataturk to 11[43] provinces that did not yet have a monument to Ataturk. The campaign succeeded in raising 429,855.54[44] Lira and initiated a contest among Turkish sculptors that went on from the 3rd of March to 14th of May 1964. The jury headed by Rudolf Belling selected 8 Maquettes of designs that were submitted by the sculptors that they judged to be the most successful. These 8 sculptors were then given the go-ahead to create the sculptures in their actual size and these life sized versions were then audited by the State Art Jury before being moulded and cast in their final material and then erected at the selected provinces that they were gifted to in 1965. Duyars sculpture, erected in Uşak on the 10th of November 1965,[45][46] was among Nusret Sumans erected in Bingöl, Hüseyin Gezers erected in Tunceli, Hüseyin Anka Özkans erected in Van, Şadi Çalıks erected in Bitlis, İsmail Gökçes erected in Mardin, Zühtü Müridoğlus erected in Muş, and İsmail Gökçes in Giresun. The commission for the one in Giresun was given to İsmail Gökçes after the original sculptor selected to have their work sculpted in Giresun, Hakkı Atamulu, changed their mind about making the sculpture.[47][48]
The Uşak Atatürk Monument was Duyars first major breakthrough in being recognised as an established sculptor.[14]
Among Duyar's other Atatürk monuments in the period from 1967 to 1972 are:
Burhaniye (1967): a bronze Atatürk sculpture for Burhaniye/Edremit,[49][50][51] which stands at 3 metres (9.8 ft) tall. The sculpture depicts Atatürk dressed in formal (military) attire. The landscape design of the area that the scultpure was erected was done by E. Demirok.[18]
Alaşehir (1967): The Atatürk sculpture Duyar made for Alaşehir was also erected in 1967, is also bronze and is also 3 metres (9.8 ft) tall. However Atatürk is depicted in civilian dress in this sculpture.[51][52]
Atatürk Mask (1971):at the Gülhane Hospital in Ankara which is 0.9 metres (3.0 ft).[18][51][53]
Atatürk ve Madencilik Anıtı (1971): (Ataturk and Mining monument)[54][55] that stands in the garden of the MTA in Ankara.[15][39][56] The 3.50 metres (11.5 ft) stone sculpture[18] responds to classic monumental sculpture ideals.[4][34]
İskenderun (1972):The Atatürk Monument of İskenderun[51][53][57] stands at 3 metres (9.8 ft) tall and was erected in 1972. It is made of bronze and has a stone base. Atatürk is depicted in this sculpture wearing civilian dress.[58]
In 1973 he was chosen as one of 20 sculptors, in the "İstanbul'da 20 Heykel Projesi",[59] to create a sculpture in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Turkish Republic. In response, Duyar sculpted, "Beautiful Istanbul", which is considered as one of Turkeys most beautiful sculptures. His sculpture depicts Istanbul as a nude woman,[60] exposed and leaning back, with her head tilted back. Her arms are bound by a chain which represents the chain constructed by the Byzantines closing off the Golden Horn, the primary inlet from the Bosphorus to old Istanbul (Constantinople), blocking Naval access to the Ottoman fleet.[61] She is in the motion of breaking that chain that binds her, Istanbul, and it is said to have a dual meaning of both representing the liberation of Istanbul from the Byzantine yoke as well as the emancipation of women. The sculpture was erected in Karaköy Square in 1974 by the celebration committee. In the political climate of the time it was considered indecent by some and was removed, eventually being placed in the Yıldız Park[62][63][64][65][66] where it is placed with its back towards the park and its face towards a wall in a damaged state. [67]
It was not the only one of the 20 sculptures to be distured or otherwise meet an untimely end, many of the other sculptures were later on left in disrepair, intentionally broken or moved.[68] The removal of Güzel Istanbul from Karaköy Square which happened after only 9 days[69] was seen as an infringement on the freedom of expression in art, and in protest the sculptors association organised an exhibition around the theme of nudity to let it be known that the creative will of artists would not be inhibited. Many sculptors participated in this exhibition including Füsun Onur who made an assemblage titled Nü (Nude).[70]
In 2017 it appears that a fence had been made around the sculpture following alleged complaints by parents that their children should be protected from seeing such a sculpture from the nearby playground.[71][72] Following counter complaints by citizens in a campaign on social media against this censorship, the fence was removed.[73]
In 1976 a sculpture about the War of Liberation that Duyar made for Kayseri Square was completed. The sculpture incorporated a depiction of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk wearing a kalpak. Despite being highly appreciated at the time that it was erected, one morning it was damaged by being split in two, and then was left in a corner.[22]
The Şairler Sofası (Hall of Poets) park, within Vişnezade park, is the home of Duyar's sculpture of the same name. Included in this sculpture are the poets Behçet Necatigil, Sabahattin Kudret Aksal, Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı, Oktay Rıfat, Orhan Veli, Neyzen Tevfik and Nigâr Hanım.[74] The park was inaugurated together with the sculpture in 1998. Duyars main sculpture was accompanied by sculptures by Yunus Tonkuş, and Namık Denizhan as of the day of the inauguration of the park. The design for the park was made by Architect Erhan Işözen.[75]
In memorial to Abdi İpekçi, the municipality gave the task of creating a monument which would be erected in the place where the journalist was killed. A 3.5 metres (11 ft) monument was created which consists of a 70 centimeter high granite base supporting the sculpture created by Duyar. It depicts two students, one boy and one girl, holding a bust of İpekçi with a dove on the top of an arch symbolizing peace. On 1 February 2000 the statue was erected by the Şişli municipality in Nişantaşı on what is now called the Abdi İpekçi Avenue.[51][76]
The Şairler Sofası park, which is home to statues of poets who had lived around Beşiktaş also contains Duyar's bronze[77] statue of poet and author Necati Cumalı which was unveiled in 2002.[78][79] It was unveiled on January 13 on the 81st anniversary of Cumalıs birth. Duyar finished the statue, which was commissioned by the Beşiktaş Municipality and sponsored by the Türkiye İş Bankası in one year. The ceremony was attended by Beşiktaş Municipal Mayor Yusuf Namoğlu, Cumalıs wife Berrin Cumalı, former CHP MP Ercan Karakaş, actor in some of Cumalıs plays Müjde Ar and Duyar himself. Cumalıs wife Berrin expressed her feeling about the statue stating that Cumalı was "born again today". She also noted how her figure and a rose were portrayed in the statue, "a notion of the love connection between her and Cumalı".[80]
The bust of Franz Schubert decorating the concert hall of the White Villa at the Emirgan Park is a work of Duyar which has been there at least as of 10 December, 1983.[81]
The theater actress Bedia Muvahhit had had portraits made before, but had always rejected offers to have her bust made. At last she couldn't resist and accepted an offer by Duyar in 1980. She posed at Duyars workshop 3 times for an hour. She was surprised that she could already recognise her facial features in the first moulage.[82]
Some of Duyars busts of well known artists such as Kemal Sunal, Barış Manço,[55] Sadri Alışık, and Bedia Muvahhit stand in the Akatlar, İstanbul Artists Park.[51][53]
He also sculpted the bust of famous storyteller Sait Faik Abasıyanık infront of the short story writers house in Burgazada which is now a museum.[51][53]
Two of Duyars plaster works: Portrait of Bilge (Turkish: Bilge’nin portresi) and Head of a Woman (Turkish: Kadın Başı) are on exhibit at the İstanbul State Art and Sculpture Museum.[15][83]
Some of Duyars other busts are of Avni Arbaş, Mahmut Cuda, Vedat Günyol, Ilhan Berk, Nevzat Üstün, former Minister of Finance Vural Arikan[8] and İdil Biret (1985).[84][85]
Around 1972 he made a sculpture of Borazan İsmail, the Çanakkale and Independence War hero. This was for the town of Burhaniye, which the hero had saved from destruction during the latter of the wars. The statue was removed around 1992 by the mayor at the time.[22][86]
Several years prior to 1995 he had also made a sculpture of the composer Tanburi Cemil Bey which should have been located at the White Villa in Emirgan Park. However it was missing on his visit to the park around November of 1995.[86] It was removed at the behest of a manager.[22]
Another work by Duyars hand is a bronze relief of the poet Gunnar Ekelöfs (1907 - 1968) head which is in the garden of the Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul on grounds belonging to the Swedish Consulate General.[87][88] In relation with Duyars making the relief, a selection of Ekelöfs poems were translated into Turkish from French by Hüseyin Baş which were published as Emgion Prensi İçin Divan in 2003.[89]
He was chosen by TÎ-SAN Tüm Tiyatro Sanatçıları Birliği, a union of all Turkish theater actors, to sculpt their gift to the older generation of actors in appreciation of their efforts over the years. The sculpture would be presented by the younger generation of theater actors at Istanbul Sanat Merkezi (Istanbul Arts Center) to the older generation of actors that had spent over 50 years in service of theater. The recipients of Duyars sculpture were collectively Bedia Muvahhit, Vasfi Riza Zobu, Toto Karaca, Semiha Berksoy, Cemal Reşit, Şaziye Moral, Sadi Tek, Refik Kemal Arduman, İbrahim Delideniz, Sıtkı Akçatepe, Kadri Ögelman, Şeref Şenpınar, Ercüment Behzat Lav, Mümtaz Ener, Zihni Rona, Zeki Alpan, Mina Müzeyyeş, Terlikçi Hüseyin, Karagözcü Farabi, Agop Ayvaz and Jerfin Hanım.[90]
Duyar was commissioned by Kemal Özkan (1934-2014), a renowned circumcision doctor, to make a sculpture for in the garden of his circumcision palace in Levent.[91]
After one month of treatment at the American Hospital,[53] Duyar passed away on April 18, 2004 due to lung cancer. The sculptors association organized a ceremony at the Vişnezade poets park in Beşiktaş.[10] Afterwards, his funeral was held at Zincirlikuyu Cemetery.[53] He and his colleagues are credited with defining the start of modern sculpture in Turkey. He is remembered as a very unique artist who "thinks with his hands and portrays his thoughts in with clay".[92]
After the death of Duyars close friend Emel Say in 2011, the childhood friend of her nephew Fazil Say, violinist Tuncay Yılmaz, recalled one late evening around midnight with Emel Say and Duyar, where Duyar started to sketch a portrait of him. Duyar had already finished the portrait towards the morning which really exited Yılmaz. He was gifted the portrait, which he had not seen yet, that same year on new years eve. After Duyar passed away he put the portrait on the cover of one of his live CD's. Describing the portrait, Yılmaz says how interconnected the fine arts really are, and that by just looking at the portrait you can feel the music.[93]
Duyar would sketch a lot and often late at night and leave the sketch behind. One of these nights Duyar was at Refik[note 3] that the poet Refik Durbaş (1944 - 2018) would frequent along with Müjdat Gezens older brother Nejat, Bekir Sami Sertöz and the poet Özdemir Asaf (1923 - 1981). One of Duyars sketches that he had left behind one of those nights was of Asaf and was used as the cover of Asafs book Ça[note 4] that was published from a collection of his works for the anniversary of his death.[94] The cover of the book Şiirin Lüzumu Yok ! by M. Yılmaz Öner[note 5] was also as sketch of Duyar.[95]
The bust of İdil Biret that he made in 1985 has been used as the cover image of the 12 DVDs box set of video/film recordings from Biret's archive that will be released in celebration of her 80th birthday.[84]
Duyars legacy is visible in Istanbul where many of his sculptures stand in different parts of the city[22], and through the discourse around the many sculptures that were removed or damaged[22], perhaps most notably Güzel İstanbul[96][97]. The other part of Duyars legacy is in the influence he has had on the Turkish sculpture tradition as part of the young generation of pioneering Turkish sculptors. He is part of the generation that introduced abstract and modernist concepts to classical sculpture tradition[26][27][28], and Duyar particularly introduced these concepts to monuments, including those to Ataturk.[29][31]
{{cite book}}
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: CS1 maint: date and year (link) CS1 maint: ignored ISSN errors (link)Emirgan'daki Beyaz Köşk'un konser salonunu susleyen Schubert bustu bir Turk yontu sanatcısının, Gurdal Duyar'ın vapıtı.[The bust of Schubert, which decorates the concert hall of the Beyaz Köşk in Emirgan is a work of a Turkish sculpture artist, Gurdal Duyar.]
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of September 2022 (link)Asmalımescit Sanat Galerisi 1995 yılında kurulmuş olup ilk sergisini Heyleltraş Gürdal Duyar ve Ressam Emel Say ikilisiyle sanatseverlere kapısını açmıştır.[The Asmalımescit Art Gallery was established in 1995 and opened its doors to art lovers with its first exhibition by the duo of Sculptor Gürdal Duyar and Painter Emel Say.]
... Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu, Cevdet Bilgin, Ergin İnan, Gürdal Duyar, Füreya Koral...
Tezhip ve Minyatür Sergisi 29 Kasım 16 ... Nermin Bezmen, Mahmut Cuda, Avni Arbaş, Leyla Gamsız, Neşe Aybey, Gürdal Duyar, Nevin Çokay, Mesut Üldaş, Edıs Tezel, Güler Diler le. resim heykel, minyatür. Türk süsleme ve sanat tarıhı calışma ve yapıtları üzerınde ... ısleyenlerı. CAĞRI ATÖLYE GAMSIZ'a
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