Selim Turan, 1915-1994

Selim Turan took his first painting lessons from Malik Aksel when he was still in elementary school. He studied at the painting department of the Academy of Fine Arts between 1935 and 1938. Whilst a student, Turan took courses from many prominent teachers such as Nazmi Ziya Güran, Feyhaman Duran, Leopold Levy and Zeki Kocamemi. During his training at the Academy he also studied Turkish decorative arts and calligraphy as well as painting.

In 1947 Selim Turan went to Paris on a French government grant where he worked in the studios of various abstract artists. His subsequent work was more abstract in style, rather than impressionist and cubist. In Turan’s abstract paintings a viewer can appreciate his original style, enriched with the Eastern arts, calligraphy and the cultural and visual motifs of Anatolia.

In “Untitled”, there is a movement within a color scheme that stretches the canvas from the four corners towards the center by the use of abrupt and vibrant curves. The lines are recordings of repetitive brush strokes and reveal traces of a certain fluidity and looseness.