A HIGHLY SOUGHT-AFTER WORK BY SELİM TURAN FROM THE 1950S…
FROM HIS EARLY 1950S THESIS-ANTITHESIS-SYNTHESIS PAINTINGS AFTER MOVING TO PARIS IN 1947…
Albert Bitra - "Abstrait Vert"
One of the most distinctive features of the artist’s works from this period is the painting surface, which, due to the numerous layers of paint applied on canvas, attains a hardness akin to wood.
SELİM TURAN’S INTERPRETATION OF ABSTRACTION: THESIS, ANTITHESIS, SYNTHESIS…
Selim’s approach to abstraction developed alongside pioneering artists seeking a “rupture from rooted harmony” amid the aftermath of World War II, struggling to strip all external images and representations from painting. During this time, deeply focused on pure abstract thought, the artist created black, stratified color blocks by layering paint. In doing so, he not only captured the reality of his own painting but asserted total control over it, even in the narrowest spaces.
The motif of the “crucified Christ,” which features prominently in his compositional structures, can be interpreted as an “antithesis” developed by Selim. His academic education, especially under Leopold Levy, combined with his intimate knowledge of modern art’s “theses,” informed his artistic evolution. Upon arriving in Paris, Selim understood that to survive in the contemporary art scene and grapple with the actor of 21st-century painting and the transcendence of reality, he had two choices: either find his own identity or lose it by following the prevailing trends.
Despite the challenges, Selim chose to discover his own identity, developing polymorphic forms particularly between 1948 and 1955. Pushing the expressive boundaries of abstract art, he worked with forms on a surface devoid of perspective and depth. This period’s production is filled with dazzling examples of Selim’s journey into the depths of his own painting.
Compositions featuring the crucified Christ motif are not descriptive but evocative. After his formal education, Selim developed an approach that rejected all ready-made formulas — Impressionism, Cubism, Surrealism — instead magnifying everyday life with a scrutinizing gaze. In these paintings addressing nature, urban life, and people close to him, he sought to create his own voice and breath.
When he turned to the Christian iconography motif as a sort of “antithesis” against the “interpretation” he had arduously constructed, he was both abandoning what he had known before and metaphorically burning his bridges to never return. Although his main framework was abstract art, Selim Turan’s “antithesis” essentially proposed a painting structure imbued with a mystical worldview and color harmonies that could not be understood at a glance.
Oil on canvas
81 x 65 cm
1980, signed
Estimate: 300.000 TL - 450.000 TL
Starting Price: 220.000 TL
