İhsan Cemal Karaburçak - Turkish Painting Association

Who is İhsan Cemal Karaburçak? (1898 Istanbul – 1970 Ankara)

He completed his primary and secondary education at Beşiktaş Junior High School, his high school at Kabataş High School, and his higher education at P.T.T. He attended school in Ali. P.T.T. He held various positions in the administration, starting from inspectorship to Telegraph Affairs Directorate. Found in important cities of Europe. In 1933, he left the Telegraph Affairs Directorate and served as editor-in-chief at Anadolu Agency. He represented Anadolu Agency in Bucharest from 1944 to 1948. He served as editor-in-chief from 1948 to the end of 1949 and resigned. In 1930, he enrolled at Ecole Universelle in Paris, but left in a short time because the strict teaching rules there did not coincide with his own thoughts. He is one of the self-taught painters called autodidact. After 1949, he was only interested in art. He served on the selection committees of exhibitions. He opened his first personal exhibition in 1951. He regularly participated in State Painting Exhibitions. In 1968, he received the second prize at the 29th State Painting and Sculpture Exhibition with his work “Abstract Landscape”. Apart from the brochures called “Art Understanding”, he wrote art criticisms and art articles in various newspapers. In 1956, he opened a painting gallery bearing his name in Ankara and ran this gallery for 9 years. He participated in the Venice Biennial in 1962. He became the President of the Turkish Plastic Artists Association, a member of the Turkish Art Critics Association, a member of the Turkish Contemporary Painters Association and was among the founders of the Black Pencil Group. He signed his paintings as İCK. He brought the image of the Ankara region turning into night in dark purple and dark blue colors onto his canvases.
Philosophy of Art;
İhsan Cemal Karaburçak explained his view and understanding of art in his personal exhibitions that he opened since 1951, in his brochures with the same name, in various conferences he gave, and in his art-related interviews.
Below are examples of sections that show his understanding of art:
-“… Every work of art should be designed in advance (idea) and executed later. What we want to create with a painting is undoubtedly “beautiful” in the sense of art. And our aim is to attract the audience the most, without going “vulgar”, as Matisse said. It is to keep our work in front of us for a long time…”

-"... our cause is as much a cause as raising musicians and painters, perhaps even more so, as raising a generation that loves and understands art and, for the most part, appeals to "vulgarity" at first glance. This is the cause of the general culture of the youth..."
-"... The painter has never been able to depict nature as it is. Sometimes he has separated from it by adding parts of his own temperament and soul, sometimes he has made one or the other manifest by being a fan of its lines and sometimes its colors..." (Art Understanding, 1. brochure -1951).
-"... I don't name my paintings. Any landscape can be from here or there. What value does it have? What really matters is how it was seen and how it was interpreted. The object is just a means for the painter to put his inner world on cardboard or canvas. What really matters is this inner world of the artist..."

-"... Everyone is free to like whatever they want. However, the only words that those who do not have a full idea about the values of art can say are: I like it or I don't like it, I like it or I don't like it. But isn't it better than drawing a judgment about what we don't like based on art?... Art is based on measurement and "The values will and should be valid for all works worthy of being called works of art with these standards and values, regardless of the type of the work."
"The artist constantly and unknowingly uses plagiarism, and it is very strange that the duty of analyzing his plagiarism and explaining his work falls upon critics, scientists, and philosophers, as if by God. The artist whose work is analyzed realizes that ideas, feelings, and purposes are attributed to him that he has never thought or conceived." He is astonished to see it. The evolution in an artist's soul and style is a small sample of the evolution of a whole era. The artist will repeat the schools that came before him, willingly or unwillingly, in a short time, and if his constant effort to change lasts, it will lead him to his own personality. Today, individualism has gained the form in art, especially in painting, so much so that it can be said that there are as many schools as there are real artists alive today.

Exhibitions:
1944- Bucharest, Romania. Opens his first personal exhibition
1949 March-Ankara, City Restaurant (Karpiç) Private Hall. Personal Exhibition / { 49 Paintings }
1950 June-July- Ankara, Faculty of Language, History and Geography Hall. Personal Exhibition / { About 60 Paintings }1951 June - Ankara, Ankara City Restaurant (Karpiç) Private Hall. Personal Exhibition / { 62 Paintings } 1952 April - Ankara, Turkish Aviation Association Club. / Personal Exhibition
1953 March - Ankara, Faculty of Language, History and Geography Hall. / Personal Exhibition
1953 May - Istanbul, Taksim French Cultural Center Hall. / Personal Exhibition / {152 Paintings }
1953- Ankara, Helikon Association Gallery. / Personal Exhibition
1953- Istanbul, Maya Art Gallery Hall. / Personal Exhibition
1955- Ankara, Art Lovers Club Club. / Personal Exhibition
1955- Ankara, Turkish-American Association Hall. / Personal Exhibition
1956 4-23 March- Ankara, Karaburçak Art Gallery. / Personal Exhibition
1957- Ankara, Karaburçak Art Gallery. / Personal Exhibition
1959- Ankara, Faculty of Language, History and Geography, Plastic Hall. / Personal Exhibition
1960 April - Ankara, Art Lovers Club Club. / Personal Exhibition
1961-Ankara, Turkish-American Association Hall. / Joint Exhibition (Black Pen Group)
April 1961 - Vienna, Austria. "Turkish Graphic Arts Exhibition". / Joint Exhibition / { 3 Paintings }
May 1961 - Austria, Klagenfurt. City Museum "Turkish Graphic Arts Exhibition". / Joint Exhibition / { 3 Paintings }
1961 November - Ankara, Turkish-American Association Hall. / Personal Exhibition
1962-Ankara, City Gallery D Hall. / Personal Exhibition
April 1962-Istanbul, Istiklal Street. Istanbul Municipality City Gallery. / Personal Exhibition / { 25 Paintings }1962 June - Ankara, Karaburçak Art Gallery. / Personal Exhibition
1962- Italy, Venice. "Venice Biennale". / Joint Exhibition
1963 January-February- Ankara, Fine Arts Gallery. / Personal Exhibition / { 20 Paintings }
1963 February - Ankara, Turkish-American Association Hall. / Personal Exhibition
1963 May-Italy, Rome. / Personal Exhibition
June 1963 - Bern, Switzerland. / Personal Exhibition
1963 December- Istanbul, Fine Arts Gallery. / Personal Exhibition
1963 September-October-Belgium, Brussels. "Contemporary Turkish Art Exhibition". / Joint Exhibition
1964 January-Ankara, Fine Arts Gallery. / Personal Exhibition
January 1964 - Paris, France. Modern Arts Gallery, "Contemporary Turkish Arts Exhibition". / Joint Exhibition / { 3 Paintings }
1964 March - Berlin, Germany. "Contemporary Turkish Arts Exhibition". / Joint Exhibition / { 3 Paintings }
1964 April-Ankara, Turkish-American Association Hall. / Personal Exhibition
May 1964 - Vienna, Austria. "Contemporary Turkish Arts Exhibition". / Joint Exhibition
1964 October - Ankara, Ministry of Development and Settlement Hall. / Personal Exhibition / { 150 Paintings }
1964 November- Lebanon, Beirut. Carlton Hotel Lounge. / Personal Exhibition / { 80 Paintings }
1964 December-Istanbul, Academy of Fine Arts. "Ankara Painters Exhibition". / Joint Exhibition
1965- Ankara. "Ankara Painters Exhibition". / Joint Exhibition
June 1965 - London, England. Turkish Tourism Bureau Hall. / Personal Exhibition / { 51 Paintings }
1965 October - Ankara, Fine Arts Gallery. / Personal Exhibition / { 52 Paintings }
1965 October-November- Netherlands, Amsterdam. / Personal Exhibition / { 38 Paintings }
1965 November- Germany, Bonn. / Personal Exhibition / { 51 Paintings }
1965 December-Germany, Bad Godesberg. / Personal Exhibition / { 51 Paintings }
1965 December- Germany, University of Giessen. / Personal Exhibition / { 51 Paintings }
1966-Ankara, State Fine Arts Gallery. / Personal Exhibition
1966-Ankara, Turkish Plastic Artists Association Exhibition. / Joint Exhibition
1966 May- Ankara, American News Center. / Personal Exhibition
1967 April - Ankara, Turkish-American Association Hall. / Personal Exhibition
1967 October - France, Monaco. Monaco Congress Palace, "International Contemporary Art" Exhibition. / Joint Exhibition
1967- Ankara, Turkish Plastic Artists Association Exhibition. / Joint Exhibition / { 1 Painting }
1968 January - Ankara, State Fine Arts Gallery. "70th Year Exhibition". / Personal Exhibition / { 203 Paintings }1968 April - Istanbul, Turkish-German Cultural Center. / Personal Exhibition
1968 October- Ankara, Turkish-German Library. / Personal Exhibition
1970 March- Istanbul, Gallery I. / Personal Exhibition / { 42 Paintings }