Who is Leyla Gamsız Sarptürk? (1921-2010)
She graduated from Erenköy Girls’ High School, Sivas High School and Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Department of Geography. She was a student of Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu at the Department of Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts. She worked in the workshops of Andre Lhote and Fernand Léger in Paris in 1952.
He was born in Istanbul in 1921, the child of an immigrant mother and a doctor specializing in tuberculosis. Because his father was traveling around Anatolia due to his work, Gamsız started his primary education at a boarding school. She continued her education at Erenköy Girls’ High School and Sivas High School. He spent his university years at Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Department of Geography, and the Academy of Fine Arts, Department of Painting, as a student of Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu. In 1952, he worked in the workshops of Andre Lhote and Fernand Leger in Paris.
Gamsız, who married her academy classmate Hulusi Sarptürk in 1949, devoted her life entirely to painting after losing her husband at an early age. Grandmaster Leyla Gamsız passed away at the age of 89.
Leyla Gamsız, who is also involved in social responsibility activities, is one of the founders of the Ten Group, established in 1947. He has approximately 20 exhibitions, including Istanbul and Ankara. The Museum of Painting and Sculpture in Istanbul and the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art are among the collections containing his works.
The unique language of the artist, who blends Anatolian and Western art in his works, has enabled him to become one of the innovative painters of Turkish painting. Arguing that painting is pointless if it cannot create a good work, Gamsız stopped painting after his exhibition in 2001.
Awards
He was awarded the Academy Award in 1964 and 1967, and the 11th Simavi Foundation Visual Arts Award in 1987.