Prominent Turkish intellectuals' illustrated letters displayed at Kibele Gallery

The illustrated letters of Bedri Rahmi Eyüpoğlu along with official letters sent to the artist have come to light for the first time with an exhibition entitled "Letters from Bedri Rahmi Eyüpoğlu and His Contemporaries: We Used to Write Letters."

Curator Emre Senan said the exhibition features nearly 300 letters written and illustrated by Eyüpoğlu, as well as private and official letters written to the artist.

Senan also said the display showcases letters from Abidin Dino, Nazım Hikmet, İbrahim Çallı, Fikret Mualla, Orhan Veli Kanık, Nejat Eczacıbaşı, Vehbi Koç, Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar, Necip Fazıl Kısakürek and Aşık Veysel, along with Eyüpoğlu's wife, painter Eren Eyüboğlu, and Mari Gerekmezyan, the artist's greatest love and mistress. Providing pertinent information on the illustrated letters, Senan said 50 percent of the correspondence constitute letters from one painter to another.

"Sometimes they could not restrain themselves and drew something in order to communicate a concept or to honor the other party," the curator said. He said the exhibition also features envelopes. "Eyüpoğlu prepared envelopes in advance. He decorated them with paintings and illustrations and sent his letters in them. In other words, he did not only send letters, he sent a gift with his signature. This is a very elegant gesture," he continued.

The curator said the exhibition features 25 portraits and a non-portrait titled "Çorum," adding, "The painting 'Çorum' is highly relevant to the exhibition. Artists were sent to different provinces in Turkey where they then performed their art. By doing so, the artists were able to become acquainted with the other parts of Anatolia, while the provinces got to know the artists better. The display also features letters that deal with Eyüpoğlu's time in Çorum."

Highlighting that the exhibition includes official letters, correspondence concerning academic problems, reports, proposals and meeting reports, Senan said the letters are in Ottoman, French and Turkish. Additionally, the editor of the simultaneous book project, Ruken Kızıler, said they prepared a book using all the documents in the exhibition upon the request of Hughette Eyüboğlu, Bedri Rahmi Eyüpoğlu's daughter-in-law.

Kızıler said the exhibition is being held in parallel with the book that was put together following weeks of hard work, adding the Eyüpoğlu family is in possession of a great number of paintings by the artist. "We did not want to stuff all the paintings in here. We wanted to create a bond between his letters. We only took the portraits of his letters that were drawn on paper. We want it to blend with the pattern of the exhibition. Paintings and colors could easily get ahead of the letters," she said.

When: Until June 20

Where: Kibele Art Gallery