Burhan Dogançay Catalogue

Chronology

1929

Istanbul, Turkey: Burhan Dogançay is the first of three children born to Adil Dogançay, a well-known painter and topography officer in the Turkish army, and his wife, Hediye.

1933-1950

Dogançay starts drawing at the age of four.

During his high school years in Ankara, he takes courses with Arif Kaptan, a well-known painter, whose emphasis, like his father’s, is on drawing.

Plays soccer on the Ankara team Gençlerbirligi.

After finishing high school, he enrolls at the University of Ankara, from which he graduates with a degree in law.

1950-1955

Goes to Paris to continue his studies. To learn French, he lives for several months in Honfleur, one of the impressionists' most popular places. There he plays soccer with the local team, paints, and shows his watercolors at Mme Boutiron’s fish store.

Now fluent in French, he returns to Paris, where he studies economics at the University of Paris and attends art courses at L’Académie de la Grande Chaumière.

Travels to Denmark, where he does research for his doctoral thesis, “Le Rôle de la Coopération et les Progrès de l’Agriculture Danoise” (The Role of Cooperatives and the Progress of Danish Agriculture).

Travels to Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy.

Participates in group shows at the American House at the Cité Universitaire, Paris.

Is a stand-in for Ronald Shiner during the filming of the British movie A Weekend in Paris.

1953

Receives doctorate from the University of Paris.

1955-1959

Returns to Ankara and begins to work for the Ministry of Commerce.

Has three joint exhibitions with his father at the Art Lovers Club in Ankara.

1958

As Director of the Turkish Pavilion at the World’s Fair in Brussels, Dogançay meets Princess Grace of Monaco, King Baudouin of the Belgians, Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands, and many other distinguished dignitaries and celebrities.

1959

Is appointed director of the Turkish Tourism Department. Represents Turkey and the Middle East at the XIV General Assembly of the World Tourist Conference in Manila.

Travels around the world and visits the United States for the first time.

1961

Five of his paintings are chosen for the Twenty second Annual State Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture in Ankara.

1962

Comes to New York as director of the Turkish Information Office.

1963

Dogançay undergoes carpal tunnel surgery on his right hand, which requires a two-week hospital stay of painful recovery. He later captures this period in several watercolors.

Represents Turkey in the "World Show"exhibition at Washington Square Galleries, New York. The exhibition includes works by noteworthy artists such as Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol and Willem de Kooning.

1964

Resigns from his government post to realize his childhood dream of being a full-time painter.

Has his first exhibition in the United States at Ward Eggleston Galleries in New York.

Receives Certificate of Appreciation from the City of New York in recognition of his interpretation of New York City in a collection of eighty paintings that depict different scenes of the City.

1965

His watercolors of New York are featured on the cover of the Journal American issues of January 3 and August 8.

Meets and befriends Thomas Messer, director of The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, who significantly influences Dogançay's career by urging him to stay in New York and to face the City's challenges.

First inclusion of his work (Billboard) in a permanent museum collection (The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York).

1966

One of his New York watercolors is again featured on the cover of the Journal American.

1969

Henry Geldzahler, head of the twentieth-century art department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, sponsors Dogançay for a fellowship at the Tamarind Lithography Workshop, Los Angeles, where Dogançay produces sixteen lithographs, including a portfolio of eleven lithographs entitled Walls V with a limited edition of 20.

1970

Dogançay produces sixteen lithographs, Walls 70, (edition of 120), at Bank Street Atelier, New York.

1972

Meets his future wife, Angela Hausmann, at the Hungarian Ball at the Hotel Pierre, New York.

1974

UNICEF chooses one of Dogançay’s pieces (Emergence) as the design for a greeting card.

1975

Travels to Israel. This trip marks the beginning of his Walls of the World photographic documentary, a unique archive of our times.

1976

One of Turkey's leading art dealers, Yahsi Baraz, hosts at his Istanbul gallery an exhibition of Dogançay’s work. This exhibition, which is Dogançay’s first exhibition seventeen years after his last show in Turkey in 1959, revolutionizes the Turkish art market with what is considered at the time exorbitant prices. In spite of this, the exhibition is a huge success and almost completely sold out. Sakir Ezcacibasi, founder of the Istanbul Biennal and Music Festival, predicts that this exhibition will become a historical milestone event in the history of Turkish contemporary art.

1976-1977

Lives in Switzerland and travels extensively for his Walls of the World project.

Produces four lithographs, Walls 77, (edition of 75) at Atelier Wolfensberger, Zurich.

1978

Returns to New York City. Marries Angela Hausmann.

1979

With the permission of the Turkish government assumes dual citizenship (Turkish-American).

1982

One-man show of the Walls of the World project, entitled Les Murs Murmurent (Whispering Walls) at the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris.

At Walkemühle, Germany, he experiments with his father-in-law, engineer and inventor Gerhard Hausmann, to produce shadow sculptures from aluminum.

The Tunisian State TV produces a documentary featuring in two separate segments Dogançay and Keith Haring in a program entitled Art and the Environment, which focuses on graffiti and city walls.

1983

Introduces Alucobond Shadow Sculptures, which are produced by the Research and Development Center of Swiss Aluminium Ltd., Neuhausen am Rheinfall, Switzerland.

In Paris Dogancay is introduced to maitre Raymond Picaud and his son Jean-François of L’Atelier Raymond Picaud, Aubusson, France. Fascinated by Dogançay’s Ribbons series as ideal tapestry subjects, they instantly invite Dogançay to submit several tapestry cartoons. In the words of Jean-François Picaud “the art of tapestry has found its leader for the 21st century in Burhan Dogançay”.

Receives Ev & Ofis, Istanbul, Painter of the Year Award.

1984

The first three Dogançay tapestries are woven at l’Atelier Rayond Picaud and presented to the public. The reaction is an immediate success. Over the next several years, up until the year 2000, a total of 13 tapestries is produced at l’Atelier Rayomnd Picaud.

Wins Enka Arts and Science Award, Istanbul.

Travels to North and West Africa for the Walls of the World project.

1984-1986

Photographically documents the construction of skyscrapers in New York and climbs with iron workers to the top of several in Manhattan. This project leads him to the top of the Brooklyn Bridge during its major restoration in 1986, which gives him the opportunity to take exclusive photographs of the bridge draped in safety nets.

1985

The construction weekly, Engineering News-Record, features one of Dogançay’s photographs of Philip Johnson’s Lipstick building on the cover of its September 5 and September 19 issues.

1986

Publication of his first monograph, Dogançay (Hudson Hills Press, New York).

Participates in the First International Asian-European Art Biennial, Ankara.

1987

Participates in the First International Istanbul Biennial.

1987-1988

Travels to Australia, Southeast Asia, the Far East, China, and Eastern Europe for the Walls of the World project.

1988

The French magazine Décoration Internationale features one of Dogançay’s Aubusson tapestries on the cover of its October issue.

1988-1989

Travels to Central and South America for the Walls of the World project. While photographing the walls in downtown Buenos Aires, he is robbed of his entire camera equipment.

Participates in the IX Bienal Internacional de Arte, Valparaiso, Chile.

1990

Death of his father.

Travels to Central America and Cuba for the Walls of the World project.

Following the Nordjyllands Kunstmuseum's acquisition of one of Dogançay's collages on canvas, the Danish daily Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten, heralds Dogançay as 'Collagens Mester'( Master of Collage).

1991

Travels to Togo, Benin, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Russia for the Walls of the World project. While taking photographs of walls in downtown Johannesburg he is attacked at knife point and robbed of his cameras, which thanks to the help of plain clothes policemen are retrieved and Dogançay luckily walks away with only a few scratches.

Produces ten lithographs, Walls-1980, (edition of 100) at Artess Çamlýca Art Studio, Istanbul, under the supervision of Suleyman Saim Tekcan.

1992

As guest of Russia’s Ministry of Culture, which honors him with its Medal of Appreciation, he is the first Western artist to have a solo exhibition (Walls and Doors 1990 - 91) at The State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg.

Publication of Dessine-Moi l'Amour (Editions Syros Alternatives, Paris), featuring a selection of Dogançay's Walls of the World photographs, with texts by Gilbert Lascault and Denys Riout.

1993

The city of Aubusson, France acquires for the mayor’s office a tapestry designed by Dogançay and executed by Atelier Raymond Picaud.

1994

UNICEF chooses one of Dogançay’s paintings as the design for a place mat.

The French publisher, Gallimard, chooses one of Dogançay’s paintings for the cover of Love, etc. by Julian Barnes.

1995

Receives the National Medal of the Arts for Lifetime Achievement and Cultural Contribution from the President of Turkey, the highest honor that country bestows on an artist.

Travels to Vietnam, Burma, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Lebanon, and Syria for the Walls of the World project.

The Paris Review chooses one of Dogançay’s canvases for the cover of Issue 134.

1996

Contributes two photographs from his Walls of the World collection for two UNICEF greeting cards.

Moves to new studio in the Singer Building in SoHo, New York.

1997-1998

Travels to Azerbaijan, Ukraine, and Macedonia for the Walls of the World project.

1998

Receives Antik & Dekor Painter of the Year Award, Istanbul.

1998-2000

JFK International Airport celebrates New York City's Centennial with an exhibition of 19 large-scale photographs of the Brooklyn Bridge As Never Seen Before. These photographs are featured in the book Bridge of Dreams, published by Hudson Hills Press in 1999.

1999

Official launch of Bridge of Dreams, a book of Dogançay’s Brooklyn Bridge platinum prints, at the Brooklyn Public Library, followed by additional book signing events at the Brooklyn Historical Society, the Museum of the City of New York, and Barnes & Noble bookstores.

Dogançay buys an old, dilapidated 5-story building in Beyoðlu, Istanbul, and with the help of his dear friend, Oktay Duran, and Cem Bahadir has it restored during the following three years. Upon completion, this building will house a representative cross section of Dogançay’s and his father’s works.

1999-2000

Inclusion of one of his Brooklyn Bridge photographs in the Museum of the City of New York’s twentieth century exhibition, The New York Century: World Capital, Home Town, 1900-2000.

2000

Produces ten silk screens, Dogançay 2000, (edition of 100) at Sinan Demirtaþ Workshop, Istanbul in collaboration with Artess Çamlýca Art Studio, Istanbul.

Travels to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan for the Walls of the World project.

2001

Holds his first retrospective exhibition at Dolmabahçe Cultural Center, Istanbul, under the sponsorship of the Dr. Nejat F. Eczacýbaþý Foundation.

2002

The Whitney Museum acquires one platinum print from his Bridge of Dream series.

Undergoes open heart surgery.

2003

Fully recovered from surgery and full of new energy, Dogançay takes a major leap forward in his artistic career.

Receives Alem magazine Lifetime Achievement Award.

Under the auspices of the government of Turkey one of his works, Homage to Calligraphy, is presented to the headquarters of the European Parliament, Brussels.

Travels to Batum, Georgia, for the Walls of the World project, bringing the total number of countries visited to 113.

During the spring of 2003 moves to Istanbul to oversee the final completion of the Dogançay Museum. From now on, when not traveling, he divides his time between Istanbul and New York.

Is honored with a Medal of Appreciation by his former soccer team Gençlerbirligi.

Exhibition at the Siegerlandmuseum of eighty large-scale photographs from his Walls of the World archive. On the occasion of this exhibition Kerber Verlag, Bielefeld, publishes a book entitled Walls of the World.

Publication by Hudson Hills Press of a retrospective book of his works on paper, entitled Burhan Dogançay: Works on Paper: 1950-2000.

Hacettepe University, Ankara, acquires 20 works of different periods for their future museum collection.

The Museum of the City of New York acquires six platinum prints from his Bridge of Dreams series and two works on paper from his Subway Walls series.

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, acquires their 8th work (Meteor) by Dogançay for their permanent collection.

Is Bankasý, Istanbul, organizes a charity exhibition with eighteen canvases and fifteen works on paper of Dogançay’s Blue Walls of New York series at Kibele Art Gallery for the benefit of the Turkish Educational Volunteers Foundation, an organization, which provides education to underprivileged children in Turkey.

2004

In March travels to Athens to document the walls before the elections.

Official inauguration of the Dogançay Museum.

With The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s acceptance of a portfolio of eleven of Dogançay’s Tamarind lithographs, entitled Walls V, to their permanent collection, Dogançay becomes the first Turkish artist to be represented in that museum.

Travels to Athens and subsequently to Cyprus to document urban walls bringing the number of countries visited to 114. The three leading museums in Athens express interest in acquiring and exhibiting his work.

Receives Painter of the Year Award from Sanat Kurumu, Ankara.

In December, he receives an honorary doctorate from Hacettepe University, Ankara.

2005

In cooperation with the municipality of Beyoðlu organizes for the first time a juried art competition for elementary school children ranging between 6 and 14 years of age. The subject is Beyoglu. Various corporate sponsors provide the prizes.

In November, the Institut Français d’Istanbul hosts an exhibition of nine of Dogançay’s Aubusson tapestries from his ribbons series. On the occasion of this exhibition Thomas M. Messer is invited under the joint auspices of the Dogançay Museum and Bilgi University, Istanbul, Turkey, to give a conference at Bilgi University on the topic of the role and responsibility of modern art museums.

On November 19, becomes the first recipient of the Art Honor Award for his important contribution to the promotion of the arts in and outside of Turkey. This award is given annually by the Art Forum Ankara Plastic Arts Fair.

December 7, receives an award for his contribution to the arts from the organization of the International Contemporary Art Exposition, Istanbul.

2006

In cooperation with the municipality of Beyoglu/Istanbul organizes for the second time a juried art competition for elementary school children ranging between 6 and 14 years of age. This time the subject is Istanbul. Various corporate sponsors provide the prizes, first one being a three-day trip to Paris.

Opens a studio in Turgutreis, Southern Turkey.

Photo NY, October 5-8 at Metropolitan Pavilion booth of Susan L. Halper Fine Art, Inc.

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