CLASSICS TURKISH PAINTERS

Halil Dikmen

Who is Halil Dikmen? (1906 Istanbul-1964)

Halil Dikmen is an artist who draws attention as an artist who successfully applies Cubist and Constructivist interests, which were active for a period of time, to magnificent figurative compositions and landscapes in the context of his own perception criteria.

Halil Dikmen was born in Istanbul in 1906. After entering the Academy of Fine Arts, he studied painting in the workshops of İbrahim Çallı and Hikmet Onat. After completing his education there, the artist was sent to Paris in 1928. He was a student of Albert Laurens and Andre Lhote at the Academie Julien. After studying painting in Paris for three years, he returned home in 1931 and worked as an art teacher at Kayseri and Galatasaray High Schools. In 1937, he was appointed director of the Painting and Sculpture Museum.

In 1937, an award-winning competition was held to decorate the walls of Ankara Train Station. In the anonymous article titled “Decor Competition for Ankara Train Station” published in Ar Magazine, it was stated that a competition was opened to make picture panels with a total length of 21 meters and a height of 3.5 meters in the hall and side walls of Ankara Train Station, and that the subject of the murals of the Train Station was It has been reported that there will be scenes of the War of Independence. The compositions will be examined by a committee formed by the Ministry of Public Works (Ministry of Public Works) and six artists will be paid in advance. At the end of the competition, Ankara Commercial High School art teacher Nureddin Ergüven took first place, Sculptor Krippel took second place, painter Refik Epikman took third place, and Istanbul Painting and Sculpture Gallery Director Halil Dikmen took fourth place.

Halil Dikmen has participated in many exhibitions opened in Turkey. The artist exhibited his works at the Salon d'Automne in Paris in 1929, and participated in the UNESCO competitions in 1946 and the Venice competitions in 1949. Dikmen also contributed some of his works to exhibitions in Amsterdam (1949), Chicago (1950), Athens (1955), Edinburgh (1958) and Cyprus. The artist has works in private and official collections as well as the State Painting and Sculpture Collections.

Halil Dikmen draws attention as an artist who successfully applies Cubist and Constructivist interests, which were active for a period of time, to magnificent figurative compositions and landscapes in the context of his own perception criteria. It is known that Halil Dikmen, who is also close to the plastic solution proposals represented by the d Group, has been involved in the activities of this group since 1939. The artist also made abstract experiments in the last years of his life.
Halil Dikmen died in 1964 while he was the General Director of Fine Arts of the Ministry of National Education.

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