Bridge of art between Istanbul and Lisbon
Saturday, June 16, 2007

Gila BENMAYOR
Lisbon

Together with Sabancı Holding CEO Güler Sabancı and Sabancı University Sak
ıp Sabancı Museum Director Nazan Ã-lçer, we are in Lisbon – capital of
Portugal – for a few days.
The weather is rainy and cool in Lisbon, though it is normally sunny in
this season.
A bit more gloomy too.
That is why we brought bright skies, blue waters of the Bosporus and
poetic scenery of Istanbul to Lisbon, the western point of Europe.
An exhibition titled `Evocations, Passages, Atmospheres. Paintings from
the Sak?p Sabancı Museum, Istanbul’ brings together 38 works of Sakıp Sabancı
Museum. The exhibition will remain open between June 14 and August 26 at the
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Museum. Therefore as a crowded group of
journalists, we are in Lisbon to follow this event.
Last year, the Gulbenkian Foundation gave a start to its 50th anniversary
celebrations at the Sakıp Sabancı Museum in Istanbul, birthplace of an oil
baron, philanthropist, art connoisseur and businessman Calouste Gulbenkian.
If you recall, manuscripts, books and Ottoman ceramic tiles of the
Gulbenkian collection were exhibited at Sabancı Museum last April and May.
Almost a year later, this exhibition in Lisbon is sort of returning a
call.

The bridge between the East and the West
As the president of Gulbenkian Foundation Emilio Rui Vilar says, the
exhibition in Lisbon is the one following the footprints of Calouste Gulbenkian –
aimed to be a bridge between the East and the West.
Before I talk about the exhibition, let me share some of my notes on
Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian:
The son of a wealthy family of Armenian merchants, Calouste Sarkis
Gulbenkian was born in the Ã=9Csküdar suburb of Istanbul, on March 29, 1869.
At 13, he went to Europe, first to France and then to Britain, in order to
complete his education. Istanbul and his hometown Ã=9Csküdar are awfully
important for Gulbekian.
So, the first piece of the collection is a painting by Felix Ziem, =80=9C
Cypresses in Ã=9Csküdar’
Anyways, let’s return to his life. While he was just 22, Gulbenkian got
into the oil business and played a significant role in the development of the
crude oil business in the Middle East.
In the ambit of the industry, he took part in important negotiations at
the world level. When the five percent of stocks went to the negotiator,
Calouste Gulbenkian, he came to be known as `Mr. Five Percent=80=9D in business circles.
Already settled in Paris with his family, Gulbenkian traveled to Lisbon
upon an invitation from Portugal Ambassador to Paris in the midst of the World
War II, in 1942 to be precise.

Lisbon looks like Istanbul
Since Lisbon reminded him of Istanbul, Gulbenkian loved Lisbon too and
spent the last 13 years of his life here.
Upon his will, a foundation with his name was founded and the entire
collection was brought under a single roof. A museum was established then at the
Santa Gertrudes Park in Lisbon.
Over 6,000 art works of the Gulbenkian Collection are on exhibition in
this museum that its construction was completed in 1969.
The number of visitors reaches to about 200,000 a year, 70-80 percent of
whom are foreigners.
With this particular exhibition, works of the 19th and 20th centuries
Ottoman painters such as Hoca Ali Rıza, Caliph Abdülmecit Efendi,Osman Hamdi,
?efket Da?, ?brahim Ã=87allı, Fausto Zonaro, David Ã=87ıracıyan, Avni Lifij,
Ayvazovski and Hikmet Onat will be exhibited. Themes mostly reflect =80=9CIstanbul’.
Besides, like the one I mentioned above Felix Ziem, works of some painters
who had workshops with their Turkish counterparts in Paris almost at the same
time are also on display.
Which means the Gulbekian Foundation Museum will make a great contribution
to the promotion of both Turkish art of painting and Istanbul paintings.

Sabancı University’s cooperation
I already said that the exhibition follows Gulbenkian’s footprints.
In the paintings, it is possible to see his hometown Ã=9Csküdar, his years in
Paris and in St. Petersbourg (a painting by Ayvazovski) and Istanbul that he
left at an early age but never forgot.
While we are touring the exhibition, we learn that Gulbenkian got in touch
with officials to establish a museum in Istanbul. However, Gulbenkian moved
his entire collection to Lisbon, when he was turned down by the officials.
It was a big opportunity=80¦ Turkey missed it.
From now on, Sabancı University Sakıp Sabancı Museum willseek
cooperation in various areas with the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation earmarks $150-200
million annually for education, scientific research and social projects.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress